Hope Beyond the Brokenness

Ahhh…. spring erupts with fresh air, green leaves, birds singing, blue skies, warm sunshine.  The spring days here in Georgia are absolutely glorious. It almost seems like paradise, until suddenly the pollen stomps in and hampers it all. As soon as we want to open the windows, we realize we should think twice, unless we enjoy the sudden invasion of yellow dust! Some of us are even forced to stay inside and only see the beauty from the window.  It seems that as soon as pollen season is over and the days are really warming up, the mosquitoes come sneaking in. They interrupt many an outdoor evening, chasing us back inside. 

The arrival of spring this year has been particularly sweet as the green leaves and songs of birds have come to cheer us in this uncertain time and call our hearts to remember the Creator.  Yet the pollen and the mosquitoes limit many of us from fully enjoying the beauty of nature.  Isn’t this a picture of the now and the not yet? Beauty calls to us that there must be a creative, tender God, yet the imperfections remind us that all is not well—the world is broken and we long for it to be put right. 

Longing.  We’ve all experienced it, haven’t we? Many of us have been longing for things to get back to “normal.”  This forced pause may have highlighted other longings in us, an awareness that things are not as they should be and really never have been. 

This life is full of hardship—it could be financial, physical, relational, emotional…It can vary in type and magnitude, but it exists in some form for everyone. We just may not always be aware of it in other people’s lives.  These struggles, large and small, remind me to look up and look ahead to eternity, and remind me that my longing is only fulfilled in Christ who promises to make all things new. 

Andrew Peterson’s song “Is He Worthy?” captures this longing.  The opening line asks, “Do you feel the world is broken?” He then leads us to remember that one day God, through Jesus, will wipe every tear from our eyes.

(You can find three versions of the song below, as well as scripture references that go with the themes of the song.)

Stasi Eldredge, in her book Captivating, Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul, asks the question, “Where do you go instead of to God when the ache of your heart begins to make itself known?”

She goes on to say:

“We need not be ashamed that our hearts ache; that we need and thirst and hunger for much more.  All of our hearts ache.  All of our hearts are at some level unsatisfied and longing.  It is our insatiable need for more that drives us to our God.”

Pollen, mosquitoes, viruses and other hindrances can serve to turn my eyes upward if I will let them.  May I take my aches and longings to the Lord and fix my eyes on Jesus, watching and waiting for the time he comes to make all things right.  May I be counted in the ones mentioned by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:8 who “long for his appearing.” Next time I see a mosquito, I’ll remember that one day Jesus truly will make all things new.

Watching and waiting, 

Ellen

If you want to dig in to the theme Scriptures from the song, see Revelation 5, I John 1:3, Romans 8:22-23, Revelation 21:1-4 and Revelation 22:1-5.