I remember when my daughter, Emily, first got glasses. She was around 11 or 12. I noticed she had been squinting while watching television so I asked her if she was have trouble seeing.

She said that she wasn’t.

“Are you having trouble seeing the black board at school?” I asked.

“No, I can see fine.”

This went on for sometime until I decided it was time to make an appointment for an eye exam and sure enough, she needed glasses for distance.

There is a moment that has been etched in my mind and heart. We were driving home from the optometrist. Emily was wearing her new glasses. As we made a turn onto the 401, Emily said, “I can see the leaves on the trees! Oh, those are bricks on that bridge!” She was so excited.

To this day every time I pass that spot I think of that moment. She was so excited and I felt like the worst mom ever for not catching it sooner. The thing is, she didn’t know what she didn’t know. She didn’t know what she wasn’t seeing. When she put on her new glasses, everything became clear and in focus. It was as though she was seeing for the first time!

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of our hazy, unclear human perspective compared with a heavenly perspective: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT).

Paul’s illustration of a mirror was appropriate for an audience of Corinthians, as bronze mirrors were manufactured in the city of Corinth. Those ancient mirrors reflected less clearly than modern-day mirrors, but even modern mirrors reflect backward images that aren’t as clear as direct sight.

The Greek word Paul uses for “reflection,” αἰνίγματι, translates to “in a riddle” and is where we get the English word “enigma.” An enigma is something puzzling or hard to understand.

When we walk through the confusing times of our lives, we often long to understand the whys and hows and whens. Life can be an enigma. Yet the peace we seek from these answers can’t be found in the partial, earthly understanding we have available to us now. Paul speaks of a greater, perfect perspective we’ll hold in eternity, assuring us that one day the incomprehensible times of our lives will make sense, complete in purpose and perception. It will be like Emily seeing through her glasses!

Until that time, how do we reconcile this with our spirits today, while we’re still in the throes of questions and confusion?

I believe the answer is to know and trust God’s character. We talked about 6 of God’s attributes in our most recent sermon series:

God is merciful
God is trustworthy
God is loving
God is Holy
God is constant and,
God is the God who sees me

As we spend time with God our confidence is God’s character will grow and strengthen. Day by day, hour by hour— we can release each confusing piece of our lives into the able hands of God, who is also Peace (Judges 6:24) knowing that the eternal God who sees you and sees the end from the beginning, does nothing without purpose! (Isaiah 46:10)

Live in confidence that you are loved by a loving God!