“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.”- 1 Corinthians 13:9
Even when God speaks to His people prophetically, it is only in part. We usually do not fully see the depths of His overall purpose or the gravity of what He is going to accomplish. The Israelites knew that there would be a King who would save them from sin and that their nation would become a sanctified Zion, but they didn’t understand that this King would restore the entire creation for all eternity and reconcile the world to God’s Kingdom.
For thousands of years, leading up to the birth of Jesus, generations of prophets spoke of more and more spiritual insight of who our Savior is and what was to come. As expectation among God’s people continued to grow, the prophecies continued to build until He arrived at the appointed time. And even when Jesus finally came, most still could not fathom the depths of Jesus’s calling on earth and the necessity of His sacrifice until His work was completed.
The same works for prophecy even today.
We have such a limited perception compared to God’s grand vision for our lives. We only see a seed, but God sees a tree. We only see the beginning, but He sees the beginning, end, and everything in between. We see the thing, but He sees the eternal purpose of the thing.
The Lord spoke a word into the fertile soil of my heart a few years ago. While I have not yet seen that word come into full manifestation, over the course of these last few years, more and more spiritual insight of God’s will has been revealed to me; but I know I will still never have complete knowledge of His plan until it reaches the fullness of time.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”– 1 Corinthians 2:9
The will of the Lord is a treasure that we are called to seek and continually uncover, which I have come to learn, is all part of the faith journey and growth in our intimacy with the Lord.
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter.” – Proverbs 25:2
Our hope might be in the fulfillment of the promise and in our promise maker, but the joy lies in discovering the concealed treasures leading up to the fulfillment. Which is why I believe that God only allows us to see in part when we receive a prophecy.
