dim mirror

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

As wonderful as it is to walk with Jesus everyday… to seek God in prayer… to take in His Word and meditate on His truth… to worship Him in song, study His Word and proclaim His greatness… I am still only knowing God in a very dim reflection. All I am doing, though wonderful, will one day be eclipsed in the dawn of eternal life with Him. Until then, all is still dim.

I sometimes feel the glass to be dimmer when my faith encounters obstacles. I’d say the glass gets dim each time I choose to sin for sure. And it gets dim when the darkness of a lost world intrudes on my attitudes. And suffering itself can dim the mirror. I feel like the coronavirus pandemic with its waves of upheavals, sickness of people I know, and even death brought to families around us has indeed dimmed the glass for all of us. It makes eternal hope that much more a reality as we now head into a third straight year of experiencing this worldwide plague.

The reality of the dim mirror is acknowledged by the Apostle Paul. We must accept that in a passage all about the superiority of God’s perfect love, we don’t know exactly how God’s love fits in our darker seasons because our glass is dim! We know only “in part”. But there is a “then” coming… a “then” beyond today’s mere earthly mirror gazing. We are created to dwell with God Who fills the universe with His presence. And in eternity, the dim mirror is shattered and gone as we are face to face with our Savior’s love!

That final love will be full. We will know God fully, even as He now knows us fully. No more mirror! No more darkening of our vision! Sin will be gone. Sorrow will be no more. Suffering will just be a memory as tears are wiped away from our eyes. A clear vision of Jesus our Savior lets us then simply KNOW all the warmth of our Creator and His eternal love for His children.