Display

Col 2:2  I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to 
know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, 
God's great mystery. 
Col 2:3  All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery 
and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! 

	There is this display that we carry around with us wherever we go. It's sort of like 
the secondary monitor of a computer that reacts in sync with what is taking place on the 
primary one. For the image that is getting our focus on the inside, there is a direct affect 
first of all on our state of mind, which then translates directly to the state of our face. 
Some people can put on this "poker" face, where this facade of indifference is covering 
up the true reflection. At some point, though, our outward display will give away what is 
really taking place internally. I love to watch our children as they are eating, playing a 
video game, studying, shooting baskets, practicing, etc. There is a certain level of 
concentration taking place in whatever they are doing that may be requiring intense 
focus, but is also producing many varied levels of gratification, frustration or interest. 
From the wide-eyed intensity of the racing or fighting game to the furrowed brow from 
the encounter with a particularly difficult problem, a outward show is going on that is in 
direct sync with the inner activity. While the realization of an answer and the experience 
of entertainment and pleasure is most likely to be reflected by a relaxed and peaceful 
expression, a focus on something that is mysterious is most likely to bring about a 
tightened expression of frustrated interest. The presentation of something that is more 
illusive in its completed discovery will more likely produce a frown than a look of 
blissful peace. 
	It is a bit of an oxymoron, then, this reference to a mind that is confident and at 
rest while focused upon a mystery. ('...minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, 
God's great mystery.') You would think that focusing on something so incredibly deep 
and endless in its content would bring more frustration than gratification. Yet, God is so 
wonderful in what He provides for us at every level, that when He is truly seen, when 
Jesus is really the object of our focus, it will produce, not troubled aggravation, but a 
peace, boldness, confidence, rest, and, I believe, a display of this inner assurance upon 
our countenance. Though there is so much yet to be found in Him, there is such depth in 
the gratification gained through the slightest discovery, that instead of irritation about 
what might yet be waiting to be unearthed, there is restful confidence and a release into 
strengthened and empowered hope. 
	When there is fulfillment in the bountiful life that is ours in Christ, though there 
may be an infinite list of things that might otherwise bring distress to our spirit and 
distortion to our face, the wonder of what is fixed in our focus overwhelms any of those 
things with unstoppable peace. For the one who really knows his Redeemer, who has 
really found Him to be faithful and true, there is a lifting of the spirit above any of those 
frown rendering circumstances to the restful seat of joy in His presence. In all these 
things, made to be more than a conqueror, counting them all as nothing compared to the 
excellency of this perfect One who fills everything and everywhere with His glory. To be 
shown the mystery of Christ, then, is this unending experience of love, hope, joy, and 
peace producing rest that will display a sense of confident repose where stress and 
despair might otherwise be etched. 
	The same thing that is being shown on the little hidden screen of the heart will be 
directly mirrored on the big outward screen of the countenance. May the resolution be 
higher and the definition more clear of the One who is able to fill all and fulfill in all 
things. May He ever be seen and may that image be well represented on our public 
display system. 

5/10/06