This week Dave and I are spending some quality time in Florida with our oldest daughter and her children. Dave works during the day while Emily and I hang with the girls. It’s been great!

Monday we decided to go to the beach late in the afternoon so Dave could go along. Arriving at the beach just a bit before sunset, we hunted for sharks teeth and played in the water before watching the sun slip behind the western horizon. It was a near perfect visit to the beach.

When we left it was getting dark and required the use of headlights. Since we borrowed a friends vehicle and we were unfamiliar with it, I expressed concern that the headlights were properly illuminating. (This would not be the first time I drove without my headlights on!) Dave checked and said he thought they were working.

We drove a bit further and questioned again if the headlights were working properly. I suggested he turn the lights up on the instrument panel inside the vehicle. He looked at me with the most perplexed expression and asked, “Why would I need to turn those lights up?”

As quick as that, I did a bit of personal check up. Was I not seeing something correctly? I simultaneously reached up and removed my glasses which I had forgotten were for the sun. I was wearing my prescription sunglasses! As soon as I removed them, everything changed. The headlights worked perfectly. The instrument panel shone brightly. Wow! What a difference removing my darkened glasses made in how I saw things.

¹²For 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.

1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV

¹²Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT

My sunglasses distorted the effect of the headlights and caused me to question if they were even illuminated. When I removed the barrier, I saw what was real.

I am reminded that perhaps I do not seeing everything clearly and something restricts my perceptions. Will that be removed in the present time? Or will I need to wait until eternity to see all things clearly?

Whether it is now or later, I am reminded to trust. Trust the one who can see all things clearly — both now and later!