God Knows the Whole Story

 

Spring is busting out all over. Everywhere I look flowers are blooming. Yesterday was hot and sunny, and you could almost see the flowers pushing up toward the sky. I love the different colors and shapes and sizes of flowers. The variety makes me think of creation and a creator who thoroughly enjoys the act of creating. Flowers seem to me to express the joy of God.

But my favorite kind of flower is the “in between” flower, like this particular one. Full of buds, yet the buds are in all stages. Some are still tight. Some are unfolding. Some are in full blossom. It seems we get a glimpse of the entire life cycle of the plant in a single moment.

If only we could see our lives in such a way. I think that is how God sees us. I believe God sees us in our completeness. The best in us and the worst in us. Our deepest moments of devotion and our times of disregard for God. The good choices we make and the unfortunate choices we make. Our successes and our failures. Our strengths and our weaknesses. Our joys and our burdens. God sees the whole of us, knowing all of it goes into making us who we are.

We are limited by our humanity. We cannot see our own lives with such clarity, much less the lives of others. We are quick to judge others too harshly and slow to listen and understand each other’s story. We withhold grace from ourselves over our failures and bask in self righteousness over our success. We too often define others by a single moment in their lives. We too often define ourselves by a single moment in our own life.

Abraham. Jacob. David. Paul. The scriptures are full of stories that can cause us to scratch our heads. God chose this person? What about when they did this or said that? God loves this person? How on earth is that possible? Could it be that God sees our lives, not in individual moments, but in the entirety of our story? Could it be that God sees us like the flower, the whole of us at once? The scriptures offer these beautiful words, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” As the season of Lent leads us into Jerusalem and Holy Week, may we rest in the comfort of knowing that God knows the whole story and loves us first.

Peace.