Out of This World

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). ….the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth.”

John Piper

Mack Truck. Right in the forehead. Been reeling from that one all week. Balance is such a tricky thing, isn't it? To learn to live joyfully, with the hope and assurance of His goodness and care, and not to be weighed down with burdens and cares that aren't ours to shoulder, but then at the same time, not to grow apathetic and numbed to the simple pleasures that can distract and draw us away from the His Pure Goodness.

I used to look around and see evil lurking behind every corner, and I lived with the daily burdens of depression, oppression, aggression, regression, you name it. Then I came to see how God wants me to be full of His hope. His light. His goodness. Not to be overwhelmed by the BAD stuff. But to pursue the GOOD stuff. Okay. Lesson learned. I'm diggin' it. But then I read this.

The only ultimate disaster that can befall us, I have come to realize, is to feel ourselves to be home on earth. As long as we are aliens, we cannot forget our true homeland. Unhappiness on earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dis-satisfaction, God holds our attention. The only tragedy, then, is to be satisfied prematurely. To settle for earth. To be content in a strange land.

We are not happy here because we are not at home here. We are not happy here because we are not supposed to be happy here. We are "like foreigners and strangers in this world" (1 Peter 2:11).

Take a fish and place him on the beach. Watch his gills gasp and scales dry. Is he happy? No! How do you make him happy?.... You put him back in his element. You put him back in the water. He will never be happy on the beach simply because he was not made for the beach.

And you will never be completely happy on earth simply because you were not made for earth. Oh, you will have moments of joy. You will catch glimpses of light. You will know moments or even days of peace. But they simply do not compare with the happiness that lies ahead.

When God Whispers Your Name, Max Lucado

And I wonder if maybe I'm not a little TOO happy. If maybe I haven't gotten a little TOO comfortable. If maybe I've set my heart so much on recognizing the temporal reasons for joy and thankfulness down HERE, I'm forgetting to long for the eternal joys that I was created for. That are my inheritance. That He is preparing for me even now.

But just one word, just one little reminder, and my heart skips a beat. He has gone to prepare a place. For me. He loves me. He wants to spend eternity with me. And all of "this" fades to gray.

"....but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20