The Mystery Revealed

Ephesians 3:1-7 (New King James Version)
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

It's interesting...living in our day and age when not much is a mystery anymore. Sports scores, movie endings -- we all know the ending, often before it actually happens. I'm in the middle of a good mystery right now. My health. For some reason, my body has stopped reproducing enough blood for me to maintian decent health (or at least an upright position). So now, I have to have blood transfusions and a procedure that will hopefully solve the problem. The doctors are very helpful, but I think even they consider this a mystery. No one knows what the problem is or what is causing it, but we have a prescription to solve it. (There's a reason so many men become doctors: they are "fixers.") So, should I be more curious about the cause or label of this condition or just grateful we have a solution?

The mystery Paul is talking about here is one that had baffled teachers and preachers alike until this point. When Jesus came, He came for the Jewish nation. But once He died, rose again and returned to Heaven, His coming was meant for all. Both the Jews and the Gentiles had access to Him and His gift of eternal salvation. The Jews didn't understand this right away. How could God really mean for this gift to apply to those Gentiles? Maybe this Jesus wasn't really our Messiah? After all, He wouldn't include them, would He?

But Paul makes it clear...he was chosen by God to present the Gift to both Jew and Gentile. Paul knew his purpose. He knew what caused His change of heart and he knew Who caused it. He knew the mission God set him up for and he knew that God would reveal more to him as time passed.

My mystery certainly isn't the same thing. And I think that's where faith comes in. I need to have faith that these doctors know how to solve the problem, even if they aren't sure of its source. I need to have faith that God will supply wisdom where there might not be knowledge. And ultimately, I need to have faith that God is simply in control. He chose me and He doesn't want me to be in a fog of "unknowing." I need not be concerned with the "why's" and "how's" of life, but just of the "Who."