Twilight
Ok, first of all, if you are here because you think I am writing about the series of vampire movies, then keep reading because I think you need this post.
And if you are reading this post thinking that I am talking about my advanced years (43 is not old, by the way) then you are wrong. Nope, I am not a spring chicken, but I ain’t no old man. *Personal note: stop using the term “spring chicken,” it makes you sound old.
Both 1 Corinthians 13:12 and Mark 4:40-41 were my Bible study this morning. Both of those verses got me thinking about a day that I was flying and was able to watch the sun set from 39,000 feet in the air.
Twilight is one of THE most beautiful times of the day. It is especially beautiful on clear nights while at 39,000 feet! But twilight is a dichotomy. It is both dark and bright. It is both beautiful and terrifying. It is both exhilarating and tiring.
It makes me think of Christ. Christ is both fully human and fully divine. That, in itself, is very hard to comprehend.
Let’s start by looking at Mark 4:40-41. The disciples were on a boat and great storm surprised them. The disciples were freaking out, thinking they were going to die. They kept trying to wake Jesus, who was asleep in the back of the boat, but he would not wake up. Finally, when they were able to stir Jesus, He calmed the water. Once He was finished calming the seas and the winds, the disciples, who should have been thankful, were freaked out even more.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Up to this point, the disciples knew Christ as fully human. They could comprehend Him easily because He was right in front of them, able to be touched and could talk to Him. When the storm came, they experienced His fully divine nature!
Imagine what was going through the disciples’ minds!
This was a twilight moment for the disciples. They have known the fully human, fully present Jesus. The one who was able to be seen in the light of day. The one who they could walk with and talk to. The one who was their friend and teacher.
But here was a side of Christ they did not understand. Here was a side that was shrouded in mystery. It was as if they had walked into a closed room and someone turned the lights out. They were terrified!
This one moment had to have a profoundly changing effect on the disciples’ view of Christ. It as now that they realized that Jesus is more than the teacher in front of them. HE IS GOD!
He is dark and bright. There are areas we understand and areas we don’t have a clue about!
I started to pray as lay in bed this morning about the times in my life that I was utterly clueless of who God is and the times that I had no doubt in my mind. My mind is so small that I can’t ever comprehend the glory, the immensity, and the size of my God!
No matter how many times I try to put God into a box I have made for Him, He crashes through the walls and show me how truly big He is.
And that scares me!
Just as the disciples were scared, I, too, am scared about how big Christ is.
The verse “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” takes on new meaning. All of the grand visions that He has given me become attainable. The plans that he has shared, become something that I can now physically see.
And that scares me!
God is really going to make this happen. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. I don’t even know why me. But God is going to make it happen.
Which leads to the other verse that I studied this morning, 1 Corinthians 13:12:
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.
So as God’s plan becomes more and more evident in my life, and the cloudy mirror or the darkness of twilight, gets cleared away and is replaced with the light of Christ, I pray to become a disciple who takes on the same boldness and power of the apostles.
And knowing my God….it will happen.
boyradd 