I ask again today, “Do we have that same spirit regarding heaven that our children have when we are going or returning to/from somewhere?” They are excited, they are focused and relentless.
Our “vacation” journey I described yesterday is a great parallel of our lives in Christ. When we hope for the great experience or fulfillment in the pleasures of this life, we will surely be left still longing because there is only one person that fulfills us completely….Christ. I love how Randy Alcorn puts it in his book called Heaven:
“The most tragic strain in human existence lies in the fact that the pleasure which we find in the things of this life, however good that pleasure may be in itself, is always taken away from us. The things for which men strive hardly ever turn out to be as satisfying as they expected, and in the rare cases in which they do, sooner or later they are snatched away…. For the Christians, all those partial, broken and fleeting perfections which he glimpses in the world around him, which wither in his grasp and he snatches away from him even while the wither, are found again, perfect, complete and lasting in the absolute beauty of God.”
I realized how on this trip, I was straining and growing more and more discontent with how things weren’t going according to my plan. My focus was not on God, but on me and what I wanted. I trust, by the grace of God, that my family will forgive me 🙂
God is so patient and loving and has revealed again the truth that our longing is to be for Christ, not the perfect experience that matches our expectations. My eyes are fixed on Christ. I’m so glad that He is the author and finisher of my faith! I am humbled and loved because I have an amazing Savior!
I long to be home with Him.. and my spirit groans “Are we there yet?”. I find what Paul writes in Philippians 1 to be applicable here:
I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
~ Philippians 1:23-24 (ESV)