There is a local artist whose work I really like – Jenna at Sunspot Wood Art (check her out: The Sunspot Series Art by Jenna Goodman | Bellingham, WA Artist ).
Hubby and I have a couple of her pieces in our home and I absolutely love them!
She recently designed a new piece which I fell in love with as soon as I saw it – “Kelp Forest.” Hubby and I reached out to her to see about getting a small 8×12” size of this piece.
Jenna was away on vacation when we sent her the email. When she got back she replied right away to our email. However, hubby and I were drowning in yet a new disaster which had just arisen. (the drama is real!)
In her reply, Jenna let us know she had a piece already in her inventory in this size. She sent us a photo of this piece, asking us if we would be interested in this particular one. If not, she would be happy to custom make a “Kelp Forest” for us in the size we were interested in.
Due to the drama hubby and I were distracted with, we didn’t read Jenna’s email as closely as we should have. All I saw was that she already had a “Kelp Forest” piece in stock in the size we were interested in. Great! She won’t have to custom make a piece. Sounds good. Let’s do it. (I don’t think I even took the time to look at the photo she sent.)
Jenna shipped the piece to us. Meanwhile, hubby and I went out of town for a few days’ break (to detox from the drama). When we got back, the piece was waiting for us in our mailbox.
Yay!
In excitement we opened it!
It was the “Kelp Forest” piece … yet it didn’t seem quite the same thing I had been expecting. My mind was a muddled mess from all the drama we had been dealing with, so I figured I just had the wrong expectation in my head.
I set the “Kelp Forest” piece up where I could enjoy it each day. But something seemed off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it exactly.
After about a week, I decided to double-check the picture from Jenna’s website of the piece. Lo and behold … it was different! I had been enjoying my piece for an entire full week … and yet it was a completely different version of what I had originally been expecting.
I thought: “You know, I bet Jenna sent us a photo of this piece here … and that’s why she specifically asked us if we wanted the piece in the photo or if we wanted her to custom make a piece for us.”
I went back and re-read the email. Sure enough, the photo she sent was the piece we had. It was a basic, much simpler version of the “real” piece. It was only 1-layer deep, whereas the “real” piece had multiple different layers. It had a basic, simple wash of color, whereas the “real” piece was full color.
I had not paid attention to Jenna’s email … and I hadn’t looked at the photo she sent.
It was totally my fault.
Hubby and I reached back out to Jenna and asked if we could swap out the piece we had, and have her custom make a “real” piece for us with the multiple layers and full color. She said “Sure!” … and in no time at all she had our piece made for us.
Jenna shipped the “real” piece to us … and in the same box we returned back to her the “basic, simple” version of the piece.
The “basic, simple” version of the piece was still beautiful! In fact, it was so beautiful I didn’t even realize my mistake for an entire full week.
It brought to mind the verse at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, which talks about how “now we see but a basic, simple reflection … but one day we will see the real thing!” (1 Corinthians 13:12) This is speaking of heaven.
The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 presents the qualities and attributes of true love … God’s love. This great chapter on love wraps up with how one day prophecies will cease … different languages will be no more … all the earthly knowledge will pass away. One day we will leave this earth, and we will be in heaven!
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” – 1 Corinthians 13:9 Yes, we have knowledge now … yes, we have prophecy now. But it’s only a basic, simple version. Just like the basic, simple version of “Kelp Forest.”
The knowledge we have here on earth is amazing. But it’s nothing compared to the knowledge we will have in heaven! Our knowledge now is only a “basic, simple” version of the “real” thing! The prophecy – our knowledge about God – which we have now is amazing! But it’s nothing compared to what we will know about God in heaven!
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” – 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 When the “real” version of “Kelp Forest” showed up … hubby and I didn’t need the “basic, simple” version anymore. We put the “basic, simple” version in the box and sent it back to Jenna.
So also, in the same way, once we arrive in the perfection of heaven … we won’t care at all about any of the knowledge or beauty from this earth. The perfection of heaven will be so much more amazing!
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11 Things were really basic and simple when I was a child. Children can only understand basic, simple things.
“When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11 When we grow up, we are able to understand and comprehend complicated things which we could never understand as children.
So also, in the same way, right now while we are here on this earth, we can only understand basic, simple “surface” things concerning who God is and what heaven and eternity is like. But when we leave this earth and go to be with God in heaven … then we will be able to fully understand complicated things which we never could have been able to comprehend before! Deep things … like the “deep sea” depicted in the “Kelp Forest” piece. Multi-layered, complicated, full-color things!
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a polished bronze mirror; then we will see face to face.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12 Everything we know about the qualities and attributes of true love – God’s love – is like to a poor reflection in a polished bronze mirror. We know only a basic, simple version of what love is. We know only a basic, simple version of what God’s love is like.
But one day … one day we will see Jesus face to face! We will see love face to face! We will fully, truly know what real love is! The real thing!
“Now I know in part …” – 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now I know only a basic, simple version of what love is like. Similar to this basic, simple version of “Kelp Forest.” It’s beautiful! But there’s so much more.
“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12
One day … one day I will fully know what real love is!
One day I will fully know how to really truly love … even as I am really truly loved by God!
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13 One day our faith will be made sight … and we will see what real true love looks like as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ! One day our hope will be made sight … as we see Jesus who is real true love!
One day we will see and hold the real thing!
