A Covered Bridge"
by Dr. Paul Chappell
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most gifted poets America has ever seen. He was a master of long form poetry, telling detailed stories in beautiful language. But Longfellow knew a great deal about sorrow and suffering, and his faith was tested more than once. His most severe trial was the death of his beloved wife Fanny. The famous portraits of Longfellow with a long beard do not show the scars that lay beneath where his face had been severely burned trying to save Fanny from the fire that took her life. Many years later when he reached the end of his own life, Longfellow wrote, “For the Christian, the grave itself is but a covered bridge leading from light to light, through a brief darkness.”
In this life, no matter how much we learn and how much time we spend in fellowship with God, we do not have the ability to grasp what lies ahead for us. We know the future is secure and we do not need to fear eternity, but there is much more waiting for us than we can imagine. When the “glass darkly” is removed and the full light of God's glory and love can be seen, everything about us will be changed. John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This glorious hope means that even death holds no fear for us.
Today's Growth Principle:
Nothing in the future holds any reason to fear for the child of God.
by Dr. Paul Chappell
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most gifted poets America has ever seen. He was a master of long form poetry, telling detailed stories in beautiful language. But Longfellow knew a great deal about sorrow and suffering, and his faith was tested more than once. His most severe trial was the death of his beloved wife Fanny. The famous portraits of Longfellow with a long beard do not show the scars that lay beneath where his face had been severely burned trying to save Fanny from the fire that took her life. Many years later when he reached the end of his own life, Longfellow wrote, “For the Christian, the grave itself is but a covered bridge leading from light to light, through a brief darkness.”
In this life, no matter how much we learn and how much time we spend in fellowship with God, we do not have the ability to grasp what lies ahead for us. We know the future is secure and we do not need to fear eternity, but there is much more waiting for us than we can imagine. When the “glass darkly” is removed and the full light of God's glory and love can be seen, everything about us will be changed. John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This glorious hope means that even death holds no fear for us.
Today's Growth Principle:
Nothing in the future holds any reason to fear for the child of God.
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