Clarity. Diamonds have it. So do job proposals, mirrors, lakes, and even our thoughts.
According to Dictionary.com, clarity has several definitions. It can mean to understand things completely, leaving no chance for confusion. It can also mean transparent to the eye, totally clear.
How about our relations with other people? Can we find clarity there? Or God? Is total understanding between humanity and God even possible? Or is God a big mystery in the sky that crushes what he will crush, rewards what he will reward, and it’s not in our options package to be given a reason?
Are we truly at the mercy of an eternal, unknowable God, a being so vast that we are beneath his very consideration?
Let’s find our answer in the children of Israel. God promised Canaan to his people. All they had to do was reach out and take it. Yet, when the twelve spies went to search out the land, ten returned and said the challenge was too great. Israel would be defeated. Only two of the spies trusted God’s promise and claimed success against their enemies.
God’s response in Numbers 14:34 was filled with clarity:
“According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.”
Let’s break God’s response down to four parts.
Expectation: “According to the number of days in which you spied out the land…”
God gives each of us a task in this life. We may be leaders in the church, teachers of God’s word, financial wizards that can support the church, or prayer warriors who can bring others before the throne without wearying. Whatever our job is, God expects us to perform at the best of our abilities.
Correlation: “Forty years, a year for each day…”
When we fail, God continues to love us. At the same time, our misdeeds don’t simply fade away. There’s a price to pay for falling down on the job. If we misuse our bodies, we’ll suffer the results in our old age. Be careless with our finances, and we’ll work two jobs to pay off the bills. We’re not free from the deeds we do.
Punishment: “You shall bear your iniquity forty years…”
Even a loving God sets limits to what he will tolerate. Once we turn to him, we must deal with our wrongdoing. The greater our misdeeds, the greater our time of penance. It’s not pleasant, but the goal is to bring us to redemption.
Understanding: “You shall know my displeasure.”
We must learn the true nature of God. His punishments are to make us stop and think the next time the devil brings opportunity our way, and we’re tempted to follow in his footsteps. Rather, we must remember God’s displeasure in our wrongdoing and make the better choice.
Clarity. God doesn’t muddy the waters. He spells himself out to his creation. We’ve heard people say, “That’s as clear as mud.” The reality is, if we don’t understand God, the mud’s on our side of the window, and it’s up to us to clear it away.
Once we get our disbelief out of the way, our view of God will be as clear as glass.
When we listen to the still, small voice that whispers to us in our time of trouble, we’ll find God’s direction every time.
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Code: FGO.G.07.15b.vp.esv