Jesus answered him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” -John 13:7
How often do we attempt to make sense of our circumstances from our limited vantage point, even when we do not know all of the facts? Our rational minds try to make everything fit neatly into a pattern and when we encounter information that doesn’t fit, we have trouble making sense of it.
Jesus was attuned to Peter’s defensive and confused emotional state. Peter was confused about what Jesus was doing, but he did not have the whole picture. On this side of heaven, we see only in a mirror dimly (see 1 Cor. 13:12), yet we are asked to place our lives in the hands of the one who sees the end from the beginning and who holds the world in his hands. Jesus invites us to trust him, saying, “Child, you do not now understand, but one day, you will.”
Prayer
Jesus, so often, this world makes no sense to us. We try, in our limited understanding, to make all the pieces fit. When they do not, we feel confused and afraid. Remind us again, dear Jesus, that you hold the world in your hands and that because you are the one who holds the future, we have nothing to fear. Amen.
Jason Kanz 