A chef looks at a kitchen worktop strewn with steaks, vegetables, seasonings, oil, salad fixin’s, pots, pans, serving dishes and ‘sees’ delectable, exquisitely plated entrées. A baker looks at a bowl of flour, a dish of yeast, water, butter, milk, and salt and ‘smells’ the enticing aroma of freshly baked loaves of bread. A potter smiles when he looks at a lump of clay on his wheel, picturing the vase which will hold striking floral arrangements for many years to come. A building contractor surveys his building site with its mounds of mud, newly dug foundations, stacks of lumber, cement blocks, tools, scaffolding, roofing materials and ‘sees’ his client family standing at the front door of their new home, beaming with pleasure and excitement. All artists, crafts persons, artisans and professionals, can envision the arrayed/stacked/jumbled elements of their work (a disheartening mess to the uninitiated) as finished products, works of art, satisfactorily completed assignments.
Our God is the Master of Masters, the Professional of Professionals, the Divine Technician, the Holy Seer, the Omnipotent Universe Designer. He knows the plans he has meticulously laid. He looks over the multitude of scattered raw materials (us!) and ‘sees’ fully-fashioned, now-alive-in-Jesus, empowered-by-His-Spirit, Kingdom-of-Heaven-adopted, advancing-from-glory-to-glory, conquerors-through-the-blood-of-Jesus, mankind, the crown of His Creation, the part He declared to be very good. One can almost hear His sigh of satisfaction as He sees our destination, our faith-filled, Spirit-fueled, reflection of His Beloved Son, our emboldened witness to the power and love we’ve experienced in our Salvation, the acceptance we’ve come to know in our Adoption, the peace in which we find rest in our Belonging.
Our New Life task, if it can be so considered, is to press in by faith to the only vision God has of us, the resulting glorious transformation from sin-bound, godless pagans to forgiven, restored, forever citizens of Heaven. A significant, at times near overwhelming, part of this ‘vision homework,’ in light of the collective ills of our global humanity, is staying determined and choosing to aim solely for the Truth, for Life, for Light; in short, to Jesus. In times when our vision gets obscured and confusion and anxiety set in, the Word shows Itself as our anchor, our beacon, our safe haven. The Apostle Paul came to this conclusion and writes about it to the Corinthian church: “… now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood. Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love – yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.” 1 Cor. 13:12,13 TPT AMEN! We are strong and courageous in Jesus, fit for Kingdom battle, all the while trembling in weakness and dealing with the Enemy’s ill-fated attacks against us. It’s the Plan – Plan ‘A.’ Let’s run with it and the three things that remain. Love y’all! PD
