1 Corinthians 2.9 But,
as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man
imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”— St. Paul quoting
Isaiah 64.4
I always have trouble with Galatians, and the Corinthians
letters because, to me, they are stern and defensive. Now, I wasn’t there, so I
can see the look on Paul’s face or hear the tone in his voice, but the letters don’t
sound warm like Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the two to the
Thessalonians. Galatians and Corinthians just sound stern.
But punctuating the sternness of the letters to Galatia
and Corinth are some marvelous truths placed within them that give an old Gentile
like me hope. What what is remarkable to me, is the
tone in the letters to Galatia and Corinth are similar to the tone in the
prophetic writings of the Old Testament: people,
please get your act together – you don’t truly know or appreciate Who your God
is! That seems like a common thread from the days of old until now.
Today, March 17th is recognized (at least in most
Anglican-influenced countries) as Saint Patrick’s Day. I don’t know why, but it
seems to be a culturally accepted practice to wear green colored clothing, or
accessories on SPD. It’s also acceptable to drink green colored liquids and eat corned
(or peppered) beef, potatoes; and of course, cabbage. Hmmm. We don’t know
who we are, and apparently we don’t care.
But that’s because we mightn't understand (or know) God. Man,
(in and of himself) hasn’t seen, heard, or understood what God has prepared for
those who love Him. Many think our days are filled with fate,
karma, or luck. And many either have one or all in varying degrees on any given
day. But God is not a God of fate, karma, or luck (no matter the color of the apparel
you’re wearing, or whether you believe that your confetti is bricks); and your
questionable heritage entitles you to be bussed because of your t-shirt says so.
Today, wearing green and feeling odd about it, I’ve run
across a truth: What no eye has seen, nor
ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, [is] what God has prepared for those who love Him. I could use somma dat
right now. I could use somma dat encouragement which reminds me that even when I
think this, God thinks that. That’s good news!
But it ain’t once and done news – it’s every stinking day,
the truth is, Good News; and that is how marvelous and majestic God is. What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the
heart of man imagined, [is] what God
has prepared for those who love Him. Short-sightedness isn’t going to get
the job done according to what Paul tells us by quoting Isaiah. What I need is
to relax – I haven’t yet seen or heard or imagined what God has in store for me
– I just need to trust that that is
reality, and I need to live like it.
Father, it is true, no one knows what is in Your heart
but You. And You are good and holy and loving and kind; and You’re fixing to
blow the blessed socks off your kids because they love You and trust that even
when they can’t figure it all out, they’re in good company because: no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no
heart has imagined, what You’ve prepared for those who love You. It's gonna be good!
- Amen
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