Clarity has many meanings depending upon the context it is used in. The one definition I found which applies to spiritual clarity is the quality of being easy to see or hear; as in sharpness of image or sound. Unfortunately, I’ve found the beginning of 2023 to be similar to how I ended 2022, cloudy, foggy with low visibility. Like a physical famine sweeping through a third world country, sometimes you have to wait on clarity until the storms of life subside.
Hear counsel, receive instruction, and accept correction, that you may be wise in the time to come. 21 Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand, Proverbs 19:20-21.
King Solomon adds a solid piece of advice in the passage above. Many are the plans in a man’s or woman’s heart, but the Lord’s purpose prevails in the end. Upon my move to South Carolina, I had an idea of how things were eventually going to play out. Every time I thought God was about to open a new chapter in my life, this door slammed shut in my face. After a series of humiliating circumstances, I find myself once again waiting on clarity for my next phase in life to be revealed.
He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; 31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired, Isaiah 40:29-31.
After complaining and moaning internally, I was reminded of the words from an Old Testament prophet. Isaiah uses a baby eagle learning to fly, leaving its nest for the first time. Like Tom Cruise’s classic line in Top Gun, “sometimes you crash and burn.” While I wait on clarity, I have to get up off the mat of disappointment to rise above how I feel. This is where faith is designed to take over, letting go of your life by letting Jesus take the reins, Romans 10:9-11. In God’s time, clarity will come.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 