The Unfolding

In the beginning the way forward with Jesus seems clear enough.  It seems clear because the way we see is paved with our own expectations.  It may take some time, but there finally comes that moment of knowing the way forward is not about our expectations, but His.  Instead of a way that is precise, logical, and as straightforward as one, two, three, the way forward is more like something which is unfolding before us as we go.  As we walk the road of faith with Christ the things that are hidden become clear.  The way forward unfolds.

 

When Peter had that vision of the sheet filled with every creature being lowered, it was about clean and unclean food.  Nothing more.  It seemed rather obvious in the moment.  But, by the time he actually got to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea, things had changed.  It was no longer about food, but about people.  We hear what he spoke to the Centurion in verses 28-29 of Acts 10, "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that should not call anyone profane or unclean.  So when I was sent for, I came without objection."  When Peter left Joppa, he was thinking food.  By the time he arrived in Caesarea, he had jumped from food to people.  God got Peter's attention with the vision and then things started unfolding in a way not so clear in the beginning.

It is no different for each of us.  We are likely to start out in one place and find ourselves in another.  We may be thinking we have it figured out and realize we are far from it.  We may think that God is taking us one place only to find that He has actually used what seemed obvious in the beginning to take us to a place that had been hidden and unseen.  Our going and doing speaks of our faith.  Our faith makes things that are hidden become clear.