So, that's what you are doing!

I really don't like books that are a 'slow start' when you get into them - those books that just don't grab you very well to begin with - kind of hard to get into and just poking around at all kind of details that don't really need to be shared. I love to read - my favorite venue being mystery novels that keep me enthralled until the very end. I like the suspense of seeing the plot unfold until you discover the "who done it"! By definition, a mystery is anything (or anyone) which presents features or qualities so obscure that they are going to arouse our curiosity. The "fun" comes in unraveling the obscure features - no matter how 'buried' they may be. I think God likes mysteries, often unveiling a little tidbit of something we need to know and then getting us ready to receive the next!

Just as you'll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, so you'll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does. (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

God is at work all around us - in today's moments whatever they may hold - unveiling little by little the elements of his "mystery" in us and through us. We sometimes get so hung up on yesterday's moments that we forget to pay attention to the ones happening right there in front of us right now! Then we wonder why we don't understand what God is doing! Did you ever wonder why God sometimes takes a great deal of time unveiling his mystery in us? For one thing, we probably could not handle the whole thing if it was revealed in one great "dump of data" into our finite brains! More importantly, I think God may just be developing our "curiosity" for more of his mystery to be revealed in us - getting our brains in line with our heart, our emotions in line with his Word, and our spirit in tune with his Spirit! He is almost moving us step-by-step, one step at a time, so we come to a place of heightened anticipation until we finally "get" the unfolded mystery!

Some think of a mystery as a "puzzle" of sorts - something to be "figured out". God's unveiling of himself in us - the re-creating of our character from one of sinful hardness into one of yielded gentleness is not something we will ever "figure out"! I have walked a good many years with Christ and I still don't know how he orchestrates some of the change in my life, but he does! I just have to trust him to reveal it - because I am no good at revealing it in quite the same way as he does! The fact remains - God IS at work in us! In his mysterious ways, he is bringing us into a place of understanding him more - in a deeper way, with a more meaningful connection to him. He reveals elements of his character, and in turn this revelation begins to impact our character (who we are, how we think, the ways we respond). To understand something (or someone) begins with becoming thoroughly familiar with the person or object. So, God's mystery isn't "solved" so much about the 'mystery', but about getting to know him better!

Guess what? The more we get to know God, the more familiar we become with the ways he moves, the things he takes delight in, and even what 'ticks him off'. This is why scripture tells us those who want to learn God's will for their lives must turn from following after the pursuits of the world. "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2) The process of a mystery being revealed requires "learning" - we take in information, processing it until it becomes evident we finally do possess a "piece of the puzzle". Sometimes God's dealings are just like this - we feel like one piece is being revealed at a time - but if you are like me, you want the bigger picture right now! Here's something to consider: If I gave you a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle today - no box for it - just the pieces - would you be able to put it together instantly? Not likely! You'd demand the box because the box helps to guide how you put those pieces together! You would want to see the "pattern" in order to know where you were "headed" in placing all the pieces together. God gives us the "box" in Christ - he is the image of what we will all become when God is finished putting the pieces together in us! With God's mysteries come the solutions!

So, don't worry about not having all the "knowledge" to figure out the mystery at work in you right now. Just trust the one doing the work! He gives us something to look toward - Christ himself. He reminds us what he is accomplishing in us - he is making us into the image of Christ - changing our character to match his. He will reveal the "finished product" at some point down the line - we just need to trust in the one who is "revealing the mystery" one step at a time. Just sayin!