Glasses, Esther, Writing and a New Perspective

The ladies Bible study group I'm in met tonight, the first time since before Thanksgiving.  Boy, was it good to be back!  "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  (Proverbs 27:17, NIV)  We each individually learn things from our study, but as we come together and share, we learn even more.  We are continuing with the Beth Moore Esther series.  Beth said something that really stuck out to me, even though it wasn't even a statement actually about the story of Esther.  I sometimes wonder why I bother taking the time to write some of my thoughts, observations and things the Lord is teaching me.  Don't get me wrong, I write some things just so my kids will have some written history as well as for myself to be able to go back and see how He is working and changing and growing me.  But why in a blog and why post it where others can read it? Granted I have been busy during the holidays and haven't taken the time to write, but I also was feeling a bit of 'why bother.'  So how does this tie into what Beth Moore said?  She said when she was first asked to write homework for Bible studies she really didn't know how.  So she just took what she thought was interesting, wrote it down and hoped others would find the same things interesting.  That is kind of like my blog, I'm not writing for anyone in particular, just what I find interesting or thought provoking and hoping maybe someone else will benefit from it as well.  Then after the DVD one of the ladies in the study said something encouraging about my writing.  She had no idea my thought process about what Beth had said earlier in the night.  So it was like confirmation to me to keep up with my writing.

Over the holidays, I had an eye exam and ended up with glasses.  Sunday I could actually read the screens during the praise and worship time!  It would probably help if I wore them all the time, but alas, vanity along with the thought that I don't really look good in them has been keeping me from wearing them as much as I should.  I wore them home driving tonight and was able to read some signs on the side of the road.  It just really hit me how much clearer I was able to see and how they brought things into focus.  Reminded me of the verse in I Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (KJV) The New Living Translation words it this way: "Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor 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 knows me now."  This tied into more of what we learned tonight.  We saw how God's hand is throughout the entire Bible, the "scarlet thread" that connects it all.  Esther couldn't always see what the outcome would be.  She was simply obedient.  But her job was not the "how" of the situation.  So often we think we have to figure out the how of a situation, when that is actually God's job.  While Esther slept, God kept the king up and set up a sequence of events that become a pivotal turning point (Esther 6).  What Beth Moore called the "Reversal of Destiny."  She said that "these reversals are part of the literary tapestry that will open our eyes to see..."  Often we can't see exactly what God is doing at the moment, but as we trust in Him, we can be assured that whether we can see it right now, or in the future, He IS at work! May I realize that though I can immediately see clearly in this earthly realm with my glasses, that there is more to it than the here and now.  That one day I will see ALL things clearly, that I will see the beauty and tapestry not only in Gods' Word but the reversals of destiny in my own life and the amazing hand of God in the midst of every detail.  That I am not responsible for the "hows" of life, but that the One who sees all things completely is in control.