Hindsight is a Beautiful Thing

 

Hindsight is a beautiful thing. 

In the midst of living life, 

We oftentimes can’t see what we are learning or how we are growing. 

We oftentimes can’t see God’s presence in real time. 

But looking back, we can see it.

Looking back, we can tell a different story of knowledge, growth, and God’s steady presence of love. 

 

I admit. 

I have oftentimes judged the disciples. 

I’ve seen them as a bit dumb and dimwitted,

Unable to recognize Jesus for who he was. 

But last week it struck me:

Of course they couldn’t recognize Jesus for who he was. 

He was not only the promised Messiah—

Which maybe they could have gotten—

But He was also God Incarnate!

There was no category for that—

No expectation for God to show Godself in flesh and blood. 

The expectation for seeing God was 

Vision, dream, supernatural voice, earthquake, fire, or angel. 

The expectation for seeing God was not God appearing in plain sight and walking the earth as a fellow human being!

 

So hindsight is a beautiful thing. 

It helped the disciples and mothers and fathers of the early church to

Put together the pieces of scripture that show Jesus as the promised Messiah 

And to put together the pieces of scripture and the words of Jesus himself that show that Jesus is God and that God is communal in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. 

 

When I first started counseling,

My counselor, Jenny, said that we were going to go back and retell some stories of my past and see things differently in the outcome.

I argued with her.

I said the past is the past and I can’t change it. 

The events are clear. The actions happened. They can’t be argued. 

But now I realize that she was right.

We can retell the stories of our past, 

And the outcome can be different.

Maybe not in what happened, 

But in the realization of where God was and what God was doing to grow and teach us.

 

Don’t get me wrong. 

We can’t dismiss looking for God in the present. 

We can’t think that God is unseeable now. 

God is. 

Our work is to stay present in the moment. 

But sometimes,

Even the most present of us cannot understand what is happening in the middle of a storm. 

Sometimes we need time, 

Distance,

Space, and 

Hindsight 

To help us truly see God. 

 

May you grant yourself hindsight today, 

And may you, 

Like the disciples, 

Look back and see God in your midst, 

Day in and day out, 

Walking among you in love. 

 

Amen.