A liminal point is the boundary of perception. I think Paul was thinking of this boundary as he wrote to the church in Corinth these words:
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what isunseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I find this metaphor to be a particularly useful and practical means of ordering my thoughts and feelings that allow me to keep my thoughts “stayed on Him” and to “trust in Him” to be kept in perfect peace. I don’t want to suggest that the problems that exist below the limen (e.g., the reality of fighting cancer in this world) do not demand my full attention and don’t require wisdom to find solutions. They do, but I don’t face these problems alone. One of my favorite verses that gives me assurance that God will be with me when confronting these problems is Psalms 73:23-24:
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
God provides the help we need in dealing with adversity below the limen. In addition, adversity comes when we share the burdens of family, friends and strangers for whom we pray and empathize with as they go through their own troubles (Galatians 6:2). Christ told us we would face these troubles on earth, but He told us that we should not be discouraged or feel defeated by these troubles because He has overcome the world (John 16:33), and His victory is ours when He daily abides in us (John 14:26-27). He also reminds us that the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world as we face our troubles (1 John 4:4), and promises that because he surrounds us with His protection (Psalm 91), He allows through only that part of the trial that, with His Providence, we will be able to overcome, and which matures our faith (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:2-4). So, the reality of adversity beneath the limen, that we face ourselves and share with our loved ones, is not faced alone. Jesus is constantly with us (Psalm 73:23), and by our daily asking for and receiving the Holy Spirit abiding in us we can be more than conquerors of these troubles, and no amount of adversity can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:37-38). Remember, God can to do far more for us than we are capable of conceiving (Ephesians 3:20).
