OBVIOUS HINDSIGHT

Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Ps 77 I remember the deeds of the Lord; Matt 16:24-28


Moses in today's passage from the book of Deuteronomy asks the people to look backwards in order to appreciate the unique actions of God on their behalf.

They say, we say hindsight is fifty fifty.  This simply means that which should have been obvious all along isn't fully realized until after the fact.

The obvious reality is often overlooked by us.  We live life forward but understand it backwards.

This is often the truth in our relationship with God.  He reveals himself in obvious ways and yet we overlook them.  We need, like the Israelites, to look backwards in order to understand what he was doing in our life and how he was leading us forward.

Ps 77 says it best "through the sea was your way; your path, through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were unseen."

Though your footsteps were unseen.  Sometimes when it comes to catching a glimpse of God working in our life, we need to do a double take.

We need to look again in order to appreciate his unique actions in our life.

Every prayer should include a look backward and a litany of gratitude as we spy the unseen footprints of God leading us forth, like he led the Israelites from Egypt into the wilderness into the promised land.

Lastly, we hear once again this words from Jesus, For whoever loses his life for my sake will find it…"

So often in our life we focus on losing our life but we forget the other half of the equation, "finding it."

It is in giving our life for Christ, for his sake, that we discover who we are, our worth, our value, our purpose, the beauty he has created us for.

In losing our life for Christ sake we will never be diminished but rather magnified.  This is how we now it is true and authentic and what God wants from us in life.  Joy should abut where lose is embraced for his sake and true discover awaits.