"Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen."
GENESIS 1-2
15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
JOURNAL
A new year always seems to arrive carrying hope. There is something about turning the page on the calendar that makes me think in terms of fresh starts and new beginnings. But the truth is, I really do not know what this year will hold. When I look back through old journals and memories, I can see plenty of places where I would do things differently. I see how I could have been more intentional, more efficient, more present. I also see how easily time slipped away, often hijacked by things that really did not matter.
I notice this especially when I get lost in the news, social media, and the lives of people I do not know. Sometimes the tragic stories pull at my emotions and I allow them to take up space in my life. But that is someone else’s story. Their life, not mine. I am learning that it is not my calling to carry every burden I come across. As Anaxagoras said, “Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen.” And a glimpse is not the whole truth.
When God placed Adam in the garden, Scripture says He gave him a life of purpose and relationship. God called him to cultivate, to care, and not to bear the knowledge that leads to death. God even said it was not good for Adam to be alone. From the very beginning there was clarity about what mattered most: trust God, live faithfully where you are, and walk in relationship with Him and with others.
And then I think of Joseph. He did not know the future when the angel spoke to him. He only knew what God revealed for the moment. God asked him not to be afraid, to trust, and to take the next faithful step.
That is really all any of us ever have. A next step. A partial view. A glimpse.
So much of my life I have treated glimpses as guarantees. A momentary impression becomes a prediction of the future. But glimpses can mislead. They can feed anxiety or inflate false hope. This is not new. It began in the garden when Adam and Eve traded what they knew to be true for the promise of something more. They trusted the glimpse instead of God.
As this new year begins, I feel God inviting me to place my hope in what I know is true rather than in what I think I see forming ahead of me. To receive glimpses only as partial views. To stay anchored in His Word rather than drifting into distraction, worry, comparison, or borrowed emotional stories that were never mine to carry.
The future is unknown. But the present is where God meets me and His Word is clear. So this year, I want to live there. In faithfulness. In presence. In truth. Trusting the God who sees the whole story, even when I only ever see a glimpse.
A new year always seems to arrive carrying hope. There is something about turning the page on the calendar that makes me think in terms of fresh starts and new beginnings. But the truth is, I really do not know what this year will hold. When I look back through old journals and memories, I can see plenty of places where I would do things differently. I see how I could have been more intentional, more efficient, more present. I also see how easily time slipped away, often hijacked by things that really did not matter.
I notice this especially when I get lost in the news, social media, and the lives of people I do not know. Sometimes the tragic stories pull at my emotions and I allow them to take up space in my life. But that is someone else’s story. Their life, not mine. I am learning that it is not my calling to carry every burden I come across. As Anaxagoras said, “Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen.” And a glimpse is not the whole truth.
When God placed Adam in the garden, Scripture says He gave him a life of purpose and relationship. God called him to cultivate, to care, and not to bear the knowledge that leads to death. God even said it was not good for Adam to be alone. From the very beginning there was clarity about what mattered most: trust God, live faithfully where you are, and walk in relationship with Him and with others.
And then I think of Joseph. He did not know the future when the angel spoke to him. He only knew what God revealed for the moment. God asked him not to be afraid, to trust, and to take the next faithful step.
That is really all any of us ever have. A next step. A partial view. A glimpse.
So much of my life I have treated glimpses as guarantees. A momentary impression becomes a prediction of the future. But glimpses can mislead. They can feed anxiety or inflate false hope. This is not new. It began in the garden when Adam and Eve traded what they knew to be true for the promise of something more. They trusted the glimpse instead of God.
As this new year begins, I feel God inviting me to place my hope in what I know is true rather than in what I think I see forming ahead of me. To receive glimpses only as partial views. To stay anchored in His Word rather than drifting into distraction, worry, comparison, or borrowed emotional stories that were never mine to carry.
The future is unknown. But the present is where God meets me and His Word is clear. So this year, I want to live there. In faithfulness. In presence. In truth. Trusting the God who sees the whole story, even when I only ever see a glimpse.
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