Lost In The Translation

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ne of the hardest lessons to learn when taking a foreign language is that word- for-word translation is impossible in every case.  Some sentences make very little if any sense when they are translated word-for-word.  This can be very challenging and frustrating for the student.

A better way and more effective way of translating involves the translation of whole ideas instead of words.  This approach requires an in-depth knowledge of both the foreign language and the target language into which the work is to be translated.  Knowledge of both of these languages comes from working with them on a daily basis, understanding their grammar and the various rules governing them.

However, even with such an intimate and thorough knowledge, some things remain untranslatable from one language to the next.  Without going into a long explanation, I can think of two expressions in French which have no English equivalents.  When used, they can turn any sentence into a question but they themselves have no exact match in English.  However, being able to recognize these structures enables communication to take place even if an exact translation isn’t possible.

The Apostle Paul understood this notion, especially when attempting to translate God’s love into a language that we can understand.  In his letter to the Philippians, he addresses God’s peace and how it applies to our lives even when we don’t fully understand its complete meaning.  In Philippians4:7, Paul writes, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

There are a few things this verse, though short, teaches us.  Just prior to this verse, Paul admonishes his readers not to worry but by prayer and supplication, in thanksgiving to make all their requests known to God.  When we do this, when we approach God reverently and with thanksgiving, telling him our requests, then his peace comforts us.

Who among us has not had this experience?  Perhaps you have been in a very difficult place, the loss of a job, the sudden illness of a loved-one, or you have encountered unforeseen financial problems.  You are at a complete loss to explain these events and you are at an even greater loss to understand them.  You pour your heart out to God, asking, pleading with him for an explanation and a resolution.  Your prayers, however, don’t even seem rise any higher than the ceiling, if that high.

But you are undaunted by this and you keep praying all the more. Even though God does not give you a direct answer, there is this assurance in your heart that he has heard you, that he is listening to you, and that he is making provision for you.  You don’t know how, you can’t explain it, and you don’t understand it, but in the middle of all the chaos, you experience a restful calm in your spirit.  Despite the circumstances, you know that God will care for you and that everything will be all right.

You have just experienced what Paul was describing above.  God’s peace cannot be translated, communicated, mailed in a letter, or sent through an email.  The only way it can be communicated is through personal experience and that personal experience comes by way of testing.  God’s peace is there when all else fails.  It is the one reality in a phony world.  Only the peace of God brings calm assurance and rest to the soul in need. Only he is able to communicate his love to your soul, even when you don’t fully understand the language.

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o take heart.  Even when we fail to translate everything perfectly, God understands.  His peace and his love are not dependent upon our ability to translate, only on our ability to trust and obey.  Lost in the translation, perhaps, but God’s peace is never misunderstood by the hearts of his children!