Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
"We had so much fun!" Summer said when she got home after spending the afternoon at the beach with a friend. She plopped down in a chair and looked around the room. "Why is it so dark in here?" she wanted to know.
Her brother laughed. "Because you're still wearing your sunglasses," he told her. Summer laughed too and removed the glasses.
Dad smiled. "I just thought of something, Summer." He reached for a Bible and opened it. "Put those glasses back on and come here a minute. I'd like you to read a verse for me." Dad pointed to the verse he wanted her to read.
Summer looked at the Bible. "You mean with my glasses on?" she asked, and Dad nodded.
Summer held the Bible a little closer. The print wasn't very clear, but she managed to read it. "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." Summer stopped reading and grinned at her dad. "Seeing through dark glass describes me--it's like me reading through sunglasses."
"It describes all of us," said Dad. "For example, it can be hard for us to see why certain things happen in our lives. When your cousin Payson died last year, we were very upset--and even angry--weren't we?"
A sad look crossed Summer's face, and she nodded her head.
"We all had questions," said Dad. "We wanted to know why it happened, right?"
Again, Summer nodded. She still wondered.
"In this life, we see the things that happen as if we were wearing dark glasses," Dad continued. "Many things are unclear, and we wonder why God allows them to happen. But when we see Jesus face-to-face, we won't have questions like that anymore. We'll truly understand that His will is perfect and everything happens according to His plan. For now, we just need to remember that Jesus knows our pain because He suffered and died to save us and trust Him to work everything out for good."
Summer took her sunglasses off and looked at them. "I don't understand why God let Payson die, but I'm glad Jesus knows how we feel and is helping us through it."
–Richard S. Maffeo
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