A Plain Mystery

By now, you have likely formed some opinion on the news surrounding the mystery of the missing Malaysian Flight 370. In an age of technology and nearly instant communication, it is quite odd that there could be a commercial jet with 239 passengers to simply disappear. How could this possibly be? Perhaps this is what has made this the world’s biggest story for over the past two weeks?! With the most recent announcement that a British company has determined that the plane necessarily, tragically crashed and all 239 perished, families and others looking for some closure are still torn. Why did this plane change its scheduled path? Why did it remain in flight for several hours, with no maydays for help or outside communication of any kind, aside from the last known words of the co-pilot: “All right, good night”? What kind of a plane mystery is this? Certainly, we hope that some wreckage will be found or better yet that the passengers are alive (even if held hostage). Will this mystery be made plain? Whether this is just another type of tragedy or else some sort of terrorism or combination of the two, this latest article will play off of this event and speak to this subject of a plain mystery.

What is a mystery? It is something unknown; something that has not yet been revealed. We come across mysteries every day! Mysteries are part of learning and growing. Curiosity drives us to learn and understand. Typically, we resolve the unknown things of life as we talk with others or study and learn more information on our own. Some unknown things cannot be known by regular observation or scientific discovery and are thus dependent upon special revelation. Through our daily observations and living under the laws of reality, we discovery things that are consistent and true within this reality. The more we record our discoveries or utilize storage devices and share knowledge, the more we can make mysteries plain! Certainly, we can only speculate or accept other’s commentary on things that happened before recorded history. If we accept that there is indeed a higher Power and Authority and that This Authority has revealed knowledge, then we can understand more and make a mystery plain.

We want to know What?, we would like to know Why? and we seek to know How?, as we learn and understand more about life and the things around us. What is going on in this world today? Why are all of these shooting and other tragedies happening or even the natural disasters occurring as they are? How are things going to work out or end for us personally and even in this world? We will not come to know everything, but we can understand and make many a mystery plain. Even when things are not plain, we can speculate as to the meaning of a mystery. For example, I think I know reasons why that 4-16 Tragedy at Virginia Tech occurred, as I discuss in my book. You can agree with me or not, but I trust you will consider my thoughts there. I also know there are things that we can have great confidence to accept, such as the words recorded in the Holy Bible. Archeology, History and Reality concur and this consistent record does make many a mystery plain!

Scripture, in particular in the New Testament, reveals many things that had previously been a mystery. More than a dozen mysteries are made plain there. Things going on in the world and the times we are living in are discussed at length there. We aren’t told there about specifics such as the mystery of this plane, but we are told about a mystery made plain: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). This disappearance of far more than 239 people (known as the Rapture of the Church—1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), is imminent (to happen at any moment) and WE ALL NEED TO BE READY! Are you ready?