Look Back at the Cross

“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”
John 13:7 (KJV)

There are seasons when one sentence seems to describe everything you're feeling:

“God, I don't understand.”

I don't understand why this happened.

I don't understand why I've been praying and nothing seems to change.

I don't understand why this door closed.

I don't understand why I'm going through this.

I don't understand why You allowed this.

And when we don't understand what God is doing, we're sometimes tempted to conclude that God isn't doing anything.

But those are two very different things.

In John 13, Peter couldn't understand why Jesus, his Lord and Master, was kneeling before him and washing his feet. Jesus didn't explain everything to Peter in that moment.

He simply told him:

You don't understand now. You will understand afterward.

Sometimes faith means trusting Jesus in the space between those two words:

now and afterward.

Peter Saw the Moment. Jesus Saw the Whole Picture.

Peter could only see what was happening directly in front of him.

He saw Jesus kneeling.

He saw the basin.

He saw the towel.

He saw his Lord doing the work of a servant.

But Jesus knew what Peter didn't.

Jesus knew the cross was approaching. He knew what His disciples would face. He knew they needed to understand humility and servanthood. He knew exactly where everything was heading.

Peter had a moment. Jesus had the whole picture.

We often find ourselves in the same position.

We see the diagnosis.

We see the financial problem.

We see the relationship falling apart.

We see the unanswered prayer.

We see the opportunity that disappeared.

We see the thing that didn't happen the way we expected.

And from our limited perspective, we ask:

“God, what are You doing?”

But our inability to see the whole picture doesn't mean there isn't one.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”
Isaiah 55:8 (KJV)

Faith doesn't require knowing everything God knows.

Faith requires knowing who God is.

Trust Doesn't Require Complete Understanding

One of the hardest lessons of faith is learning to say:

“Lord, I don't understand this, but I still trust You.”

That's very different from pretending everything is okay.

Faith doesn't require denying your questions.

It doesn't require pretending something doesn't hurt.

It doesn't require calling evil good.

It means that even when your understanding reaches its limit, your confidence in Christ doesn't have to.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5 (KJV)

Notice Scripture doesn't say you'll always have understanding.

It tells you what to do when your understanding isn't enough:

Trust Him.

They Could Only See Friday

Think about the disciples at the crucifixion.

They had watched Jesus heal the sick.

They watched Him give sight to the blind.

They watched Him calm storms.

They watched Him raise Lazarus from the dead.

They believed He was the Messiah.

And then they watched Him hang on a cross.

Imagine how confusing that must have been.

Everything probably looked like it had gone wrong.

Their Messiah had been crucified.

Their Teacher was dead.

Their expectations had collapsed.

But there was something they didn't know yet.

They could see Friday.

They hadn't seen Sunday.

What looked like defeat was becoming the greatest victory in human history.

The Cross Is the Proof

And this is where this message leads directly into the Gospel.

The cross reminds us that God's greatest work can sometimes be happening precisely where human understanding sees only hopelessness.

Jesus wasn't accidentally crucified.

He willingly gave Himself for sinners.

Scripture says:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 (KJV)

We had a problem far greater than circumstances we couldn't understand.

We had sin separating us from a holy God.

And we couldn't fix it ourselves.

We couldn't become righteous through enough good works.

We couldn't erase our guilt through religion.

We couldn't save ourselves through better behavior.

So Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

He lived without sin.

He willingly went to the cross.

He bore our sins.

He died.

He was buried.

And on the third day, He rose again.

“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (KJV)

That's the Gospel.

What looked like the end on Friday became the announcement of victory on Sunday.

Jesus is alive.

And salvation is offered by grace to everyone who places their faith in Him.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8–9 (KJV)

The cross gives us a reason to trust God even when we cannot understand our circumstances.

Because we already know what He has done for us in Christ.

God Can Work Through What He Didn't Cause

Not every painful thing that happens is something God directly caused.

We live in a fallen world.

People make sinful choices.

We make bad decisions.

Suffering happens.

And there may be questions for which we never receive a complete answer in this life.

But Scripture gives us this promise:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God...”
Romans 8:28 (KJV)

It doesn't say everything that happens is good.

It says God can work all things together for good.

There is a difference.

God is able to take something painful, confusing, disappointing, or even evil and accomplish something through it that we couldn't see while we were experiencing it.

Don't Walk Away Because You Can't See

Maybe you're currently living in the “now” of John 13:7.

You don't understand now.

You don't know why the prayer hasn't been answered the way you hoped.

You don't know why God allowed that door to close.

You don't know why the plan changed.

You don't know what He's doing with this season.

And maybe someday you'll look backward and understand something you couldn't possibly see today.

Maybe you won't fully understand until eternity.

Either way, you can still trust Jesus today.

Don't make permanent conclusions about God's goodness from circumstances you can only partially see.

Don't walk away because you don't understand.

Keep praying.

Keep seeking.

Keep reading His Word.

Keep following.

Keep trusting.

And when your circumstances make you question whether God truly loves you, look back at the cross.

Because Christianity doesn't ask you to blindly trust a God who has never demonstrated His love.

He already demonstrated it at Calvary.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all...”
Romans 8:32 (KJV)

You may not understand what He's doing now.

Peter didn't either.

The disciples didn't understand Friday.

But Sunday was coming.

And because Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave, we know that even when we cannot see the whole picture, we can trust the One who does.

“Lord, I don't understand what You're doing right now. But I know what You've already done for me at the cross. So even when I cannot understand Your hand, help me trust Your heart.”