“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13: 7
“Jesus, you are soooo right! I mean, I can see some things You’re doing with my life. But just like the Apostle Paul so eloquently said… we see things imperfectly now; as if we’re looking in a cloudy mirror.”
My faith has gotten a lot stronger than what it was when I was a baby Christian, and it’s entirely because of the ups and downs in my life – more downs than ups (boy… there have been, and still are). What does the Bible say about being tried in the fire? It says despite being tried in the fire, I’m coming out as gold! I believe that. I really do believe that. I read something along these lines that I think will be a great interpretation of what Jesus means by “not understanding the way He does things”…
In the reign of King Solomon, the Bible speaks of the majestic Cedar trees in Lebanon; cedar trees that were the pride of the forest. If just for a minute we can imagine what those trees, the kings of the forest, would have looked like… They were strong and withstood many storms, which made their roots sink deeper and deeper into the earth. These mighty trees were home to many birds, as they would build their nests in its branches. The tree provided shade from the midday heat and offered shelter from raging storms.
Now imagine that one day axmen come into the forest – immediately our focus turns to those magnificent trees. We know that men with axes mean only one thing… “Timber,” the axmen yell as each noble tree, one by one come crashing to the ground. If cutting them down isn’t bad enough, we see the axmen mercilessly stripping her of her branches. How devastating! If I didn’t know the rest of the story, I would think this was the end.
My friends, does this sound at all familiar? Could we be at a place in our lives where we are like these cedars of old? God’s ax of trials have stripped us bare. We see no reason and no understanding for such harsh and difficult circumstances. Next, we watch as those fallen and devastated trees are put on a raft and sailed across the Mediterranean. Can you see where this story is going?
We finally see these trees being polished and placed as glorious beams in the Temple of God. I’ll leave you with this scripture…
“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.” Haggai 2: 9
