The reason most men, to quote Thoreau, " live lives of quiet desperation" is that they live without hope.
The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don't quite pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we're disappointed. - we're made for so much more. " He has also set eternity in the hearts," (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony. "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy," C.S. Lewis wrote, "the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
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When Paul says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9), he simply means we cannot outdream God. What is at the end of our personal journeys? Something beyond our wildest imagination. But if we explore the secrets of our heart in the light of the promises of Scripture, we can discover clues. There is, in the heart of every man, woman and child, an inconsolable longing for intimacy, for beauty, and for adventure. What will heaven offer to our heart of hearts?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For those of you who are wondering, no, I didn't write the above. It is an excerpt from The Sacred Romance. I got reminded today during quiet time that strength for life's journey is fueled by a hope that God Himself has placed in my heart. Will you allow it to be the heartbeat of your soul as well?
The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don't quite pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we're disappointed. - we're made for so much more. " He has also set eternity in the hearts," (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony. "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy," C.S. Lewis wrote, "the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When Paul says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9), he simply means we cannot outdream God. What is at the end of our personal journeys? Something beyond our wildest imagination. But if we explore the secrets of our heart in the light of the promises of Scripture, we can discover clues. There is, in the heart of every man, woman and child, an inconsolable longing for intimacy, for beauty, and for adventure. What will heaven offer to our heart of hearts?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For those of you who are wondering, no, I didn't write the above. It is an excerpt from The Sacred Romance. I got reminded today during quiet time that strength for life's journey is fueled by a hope that God Himself has placed in my heart. Will you allow it to be the heartbeat of your soul as well?
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