by Dorcas Kulwa | 12 December 2025 08:46 pm12
1 Corinthians 13:9–10
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
The Bible gives us clear direction for our lives and teaches us how to understand God and the way He works in us. As a child of God, it is important to know what God has enabled you to understand—and what He has not yet chosen to reveal.
Many believers read this passage without reflecting on it deeply. As a result, they live frustrated and troubled lives, assuming that God is silent or that He does not answer prayers.
The Holy Spirit teaches us an important truth: we were not meant to know everything in this present life. You were not created to live on earth with complete knowledge of all things.
Instead, God reveals things to us in part. Think of it like watching a movie trailer. The trailer gives you clues and glimpses, but you do not see the entire story until the movie is fully revealed. In the same way, the full picture will only be known when we cross over to eternity.
This principle applies to every area of life. When you ask God to reveal a matter to you—to show you what is happening, what will happen, or what your future holds—do not expect Him to give you every detail. He will not show you everything step by step: today this, tomorrow that, next year this, next week that. God does not work that way.
He reveals small portions—enough to guide you, but not the entire picture. These pieces form a direction, not a complete map, because we are given knowledge only in part.
If you are a prophet and God shows you something, speak only what has been revealed to you. Do not add your own assumptions, timelines, or interpretations. When you go beyond what God has shown, you risk confusing yourself and misleading others. No matter how anointed you are, you cannot know everything, and you cannot be shown everything.
This is what happened to John the Baptist. He had his own expectations and understanding, and when things did not unfold as he imagined, he began to doubt—even though he himself had testified that Jesus was the Christ.
Consider this example: a prophet sees a vision of a woman carrying a baby boy. Wanting to appear highly prophetic, he adds his own narrative: “The Lord says you will soon give birth to a son. Prepare his clothes, pray for him, and bring a thanksgiving offering.”
Yet God may not have been speaking about physical childbirth at all. He may have been showing that the woman would be blessed to care for orphans or become a spiritual mother—using the image of carrying a child.
The woman then places her hope in having a biological child. Years pass, no child is born, and the prophet is later labeled a false prophet. But the problem was not that God lied—it was that the prophet went beyond the measure of revelation given to him.
If he had simply said, “This is what the Lord has shown me. Beyond this, I do not know. God will reveal the meaning to you in His time,” that would have been sufficient. The woman would have had space to pray, reflect, and later recognize the fulfillment when it came.
The same is true in your own life. When you ask God to confirm something, you will often receive only partial information—a sign, a symbol, or a gentle prompting.
When that happens, do not stress over trying to see the whole picture. Take the step you are able to take, and trust that the Lord will walk with you.
So what should we do?
God did not create us to live by sight, but by faith.
Everything we do must be done in faith, because we do not yet have full understanding of all things.
Even in evangelism, you cannot wait for God to reveal the name of the street, the person you will meet, what they are wearing, and their name before you go. If you wait for that level of detail, you will wait forever.
Instead, you move by faith—trusting the promise:
“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And as you go, God leads you to the person He has prepared among many others.
So remember this: we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
That is why Scripture concludes:
1 Corinthians 13:12
“For now we see through a glass, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Walk by faith. When guidance, prophecy, or direction comes in small portions, that is often your signal to act—not to wait endlessly for more information.
May the Lord bless you.
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