Confusion.
Escher, M.C. “Relativity.” 1953. Escher Museum, The Hague, Netherlands.
Confusion!?! Let’s make sense of this.
How do we make sense of what we see in the world around us? There are the stirrings of nations on the rise; some are seeking to extinguish other countries in order for their own position to prosper. Is there another pandemic around the corner? Will my health outlast my age? What do we make of the times? Were there certain figures or leaders in whom we once trusted but now they appear more duped or smeared than we had hoped?
What about the Church of God? We hear of certain religious groups talking about rapture. We know that religious leaders fall and fail. Silently we wonder if we’ve missed something in our own understanding of God and the Times. Or maybe Christianity is more of a fog than an understanding and yet we look at all that is going on in the world around us and there are questions that we wish someone could answer. Is the Bible capable of showing us what’s up and what’s not? Is there clear direction or do we just muddle along? Can God make the confusion of life more meaningful and comprehensible? Does anyone have insight?
One of my favorite artists as a child was all about confusion: M.C. Escher. You might recognize some of his works; he drew two hands that appear to be drawing themselves. He is also the master who penciled numerous staircases that seem to contradict the laws of physics and end up going nowhere; stare at these images too long and you feel a little light-headed. I love these adept displays of contorted reality; they really can’t be real. Escher confuses and attracts our attention in the same drawing. His progressive puzzles have intrigue.
Life gets like this too! We stare at what is happening too long and it could make us nauseous or light-headed. When life displays itself in that harshness and rigor, such that accepting the confusion is more like swallowing nails, we wish that it could be a mere drawing on the page which could soon be erased. But life is unwieldy and disconcerting. Life has contortions that can’t be explained - at least not by human minds. We need God’s insight.
Thankfully our God is not just superior in knowledge and insight, He is also a loving Father who desires to be close with his children and share valuable insights into life. One of the foremost pieces of wisdom comes from knowing that we are connected to God, His family; His presence is with us always. We see this in the following verses from Ephesians 3:
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
As confusing as the world may be, God our Father has it all figured out. He gets it; He is not confused by it. And as our Father, He will forge the path for us and bring us along to be with Him forever! God be praised!