“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Romans 8:18
There are two things that I remind myself of often to help me make sense of the feelings I have as I live here on earth.
First, I remind myself that this is not my home. Daily I experience God’s peace and joy as He promises to give Christians in His Word, but it’s not typically joy and peace from my observations and experiences here on earth. More often I mourn over what I observe and experience. Instead I have a joy and peace for what is to come. I live in a constant state of homesickness for Heaven, which is to be expected because Heaven is my home. This took me some time to understand. I have always felt a certain degree of discontentment, and I would contribute to my melancholy temperament, which may help to intensify the feeling more than other Christians experience it, but the more I read God’s Word I realized that this is a natural, normal feeling. The Apostle Paul talks about this same struggle in Philippians 1:20-26 and in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. I remember the first time I read these verses, and it was an “Ah-ha” moment to realize that there is a reason I feel the way I do. “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ” (Philippians 1:27). Since I was born again as a child of God and given His gift of the Holy Spirit, I am now a citizen of Heaven. God has special purposes for me here on earth, which I embrace and work hard to accomplish, but my eternal life is in Heaven.
The second thing I remind myself of is that even though God likes it when I’m happy, he’s not completely concerned with my happiness. This is a very foreign understanding in a world where people’s self-fulfillment and self-actualization is honored, protected, and sought after. We live in a world of instant self-gratification, and we immediately think that if it doesn’t feel right then it can’t be right. I am very much guilty of this myself when I’m trying to make major decisions or when I want something really badly. However, God wants us with Him in Heaven for eternity. He loves us. We are His children. And He wants us with him. So even though it makes Him happy when we’re happy, more importantly He will do whatever it takes to get us to Him.
It is the same relationship of parents and children here on earth. Parents want their children to be happy, but more importantly they want them to be healthy, safe, and ultimately productive citizens. Most parents will do whatever it takes to get their children to that point. God will do whatever it takes to get us to eternal life with Him. Nothing proves this more than Jesus’s death on the cross. He gave His only Son. He became human. He became a helpless baby. He became a servant. He was crucified. All so that we can be reconciled with Him in Heaven for eternity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God has a purpose, and it’s His purpose. Not our purpose for our self. And it’s for our good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So when I am suffering or confused or angry I try to remind myself that God loves me more than all I think I want and need for myself. He loves me so much that He will continue to make me into the person He wants me to become so that I will be glorified in Heaven – my true home – when He calls me there.
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