Hindsight is 20/20
As finite human beings living in a world limited by space and time, we don’t have the benefit of seeing into the future. The statement “Hindsight is 2020” comes to mind when I think of the story of Jonah.
If he had known of the fierce storm awaiting him on the open waters, would he still have been so quick to run from God’s will?
What if he had known about the giant fish that was waiting to hurl him up on the beach? Better yet, what if Jonah had known that God had a plan for Nineveh that would not be stopped by the actions of any man?
When we read the various stories of the Bible, we have the benefit of seeing the beginning, middle, and end all at once. We tend to forget that the characters in the Bible didn’t always have that advantage. Jonah had no clue just how significant his part was in the greater redemption plan of God. All he could see was that his enemy was receiving mercy and he didn’t want any part of it.
Sometimes God asks us to demonstrate simple obedience without giving us the bigger picture of what’s happening.
I would even argue that He rarely, if ever, gives us the benefit of knowing how the events in our lives will shape who we will become. It would be much easier for us to follow God every step of our journey if we could always see what’s on the horizon. But if that were the case, it wouldn’t require us to have much faith.
About eight years ago, I moved my family to Springfield so that I could attend classes at CBC. Prior to our move, I had served at my home church as the youth/worship pastor for three years. I wrestled for a while with the idea of attending Bible college.
I can still remember the exact moment in my quiet time when the Holy Spirit told me, “GO!”
I told my wife soon afterwards and away we went!
Looking back to that time in my life really shows me God’s hand at work. We were not even the slightest bit prepared for our transition into a new chapter in our lives. We didn’t know much about Springfield. We didn’t have any babysitters lined up to help with our children while I was in class. Believe it or not, my wife and I were so eager to follow God’s call upon our lives that we didn’t even have any jobs lined up for us when we got here!
While I would never recommend that anyone be so careless as I was, I can testify of God’s faithfulness to those who obey Him. For the world at large, the devil may be in the details, but for the believer, God is in the details.
We may not always see what He sees, but we can take comfort in knowing that He has a plan and knows what He’s doing.
Hindsight is 20/20, and what a year 2020 has been!
Although most of us didn’t see this year coming (pastor Alan being one of the exceptions!), God certainly wasn’t surprised by it. Someday we will be able to look back on the events taking place this year and have a better perspective on them. Until that day, we must keep our eyes fixed on the One who always sees clearly.