Bible Text: 1 Corinthians 13:12 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

One of the most important things you can ever learn about God is that God is God! That’s not very profound, you may think, but it is, really! Here’s why! Not knowing God, we assume that He is kind of a glorified human, and therefore try to understand Him just as you would another human being. Now, to say that God is God isn’t to say for a moment that He is not a person with intelligence, will and emotions! He is that plus an infinite amount more. He is also One who can be known, which means that God is not a Force, The Prime Mover of the Universe or an Abstract Power out there—wherever that may be.

To say that God is God is to make a powerful assertion which takes us above the level of humanity, rising to the supernatural. Therefore, we should assume that in so many ways God is different from humans we know. He never changes. He has neither beginning nor end. He never grows weary nor becomes bored or frustrated. He’s faithful, too. What He says He will do, He does! It may take Him some time, perhaps even a long while, and we may get pretty restless waiting for Him to come through, but He will eventually. I’ve often been quoted as saying, “God is seldom early, but He’s never late!”

A man who spent a lifetime walking with the Lord, who was perhaps closer to God than any man in his day, Samuel, the prophet, wrote, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man that he should change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29). This is one of the reasons why it’s hard for some to understand Him. God is different from us. He’s never in a hurry, but we often are! He always keeps His word. But often we don’t. He just operates on a different logic level, and that’s why it’s tough for us at times. God, Himself, told us this a long time ago. You find these words in Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

God is also different from us in that He has infinite patience and compassion. He understands when we wouldn’t even try. Have you never read a newspaper account of some terrible situation where someone was brutal to another, perhaps a child or an innocent victim, and you thought, “If I were God I’d really zap that guy…”? Sure, you would have, and so would I, but God didn’t. Why? Is God soft on justice? Some have thought so, even those who were spiritual men or prophets. I’m thinking of Habakkuk, the man who wrote one of the Old Testament books, who faced the issue and cried out, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?… Why do you tolerate wrong?” God finally answered him and he began to realize that there is an end to the patience of God, a limit when His infinite patience runs out and justice follows.

There is one thought that I want to leave with you. Let God be God! Rest in the fact that He is sovereign, that He knows the future, and therefore, if you are His child, you can rest in the confidence that He is fully in control of your life and the world in which you live. The more you know of His Word and His ways, the more confident you will be of His ability to keep you and to watch over your life. No child of God would ever question the ways of God if He understood the whole picture.

Like the visitor in a weaving factory who saw only the broken threads on the underside, we often see only part of the pattern. But someday we’ll move to the other side and see the completed tapestry of our lives. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face,” says Paul, adding, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12 b). You can rest in that confidence.

Resource reading: 1 Corinthians 13