I truly think we expect too much from this life here on earth. Three times in the Bible God’s people are called “aliens and strangers” (1 Peter 2:11). Yet, most of us live like we expect this present life to go on indefinitely.
We expect this broken world to hold the answers to peace and happiness. Take Christmas, for instance. We idealize the family sitting happily around a glowing Christmas tree with peace and love filling their hearts. Yet, reality is that Christmas does not always bring the closeness that we long for. Someone is angry and refuses to come to the family get-together. A dear one is missing because of serious illness or death. Broken homes create problems that the Wisdom of Solomon can’t resolve. And when the season passes and the last string of lights is finally stowed away, we sigh, “Well, maybe next year.”
Job is a man who experienced life at just about its worst. One day he reached an all-time low. His children were dead, his cattle gone, his home destroyed, his wife estranged, and his body wracked with pain. You’d expect Job to be irate with God for allowing such unspeakable suffering. Yet, listen to what Job said,
“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes.
How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)
What kept Job going was the hope that even if things never got better in this life, eventually he was going to see God.
No, this world is not our home. We were made for another world. So, lift up your eyes, focus on heaven and be encouraged. The best is yet to come.
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