I’ve come to realize that we weren’t ever meant to live in comfort. If earth is broken and not our home, has anything broken ever been comfortable? A broken bike seat, broken shoe, broken friendship, broken body… it’s not comfortable. It’s the opposite. It’s really hard to ride a bike that doesn’t have a seat. It’s hard to walk in shoes that don’t have soles. It’s hard to navigate a relationship that feels gone beyond repair. It’s hard to come to grips that your body has turned on itself and is working against you without being able to stop it.
If earth is not our home and heaven is, the tension of discomfort will always accompany us. But these tensions weren’t made to make us mad at the world we live in. Rather, to fix our focus on the only thing that isn’t broken and never will be—Jesus.
Change is good. Realizing you spend too much time on your phone and not enough time enjoying a hobby or something worthwhile is a good thing. But before we start the rat race cycle of realizing things about our life that need changing, figure out why you want to make a change first. We can make drastic changes and life lists at the beginning of each year, only to stick with it for a few weeks. Why can’t we stay on track? The liberating moments of “That’s it! I’m done! I need to change!” You’re confident in it in that very moment. I know the feeling, the energy, and the excitement with the thought of change. It’s good… except. Except what? You set yourself up for failure before you even started by having the mindset that'll make you happier. Happiness is fleeting, but joy from the Lord abounds in any and every circumstance.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a gold mine with wanting to change. You can make all the changes in the world, find something new to do, get the job, make the money, see the world, and you still will never be satisfied, you will never be comfortable. The book is written by someone who had everything. Riches and wisdom. Yet the writer tells us there’s nothing new, everything is meaningless and a chasing after the wind. Yes, a chase after something we can never obtain. In a world where comfort, pleasures, and desires can be filled in the blink of an eye, we still aren’t satisfied. We aren’t content, we will always want more. We will never be comfortable because without contentment, you’ll never have either in this life. We never have and we never will. The only person I know who said they were content is Paul. He learned what it meant to be content and writes about it from the darkest pit of life, yet, content because he found it in Jesus, not in anything on earth. He didn’t find it in good circumstances, a good meal, fame, or money. He wrestled between wanting to be in heaven with God and staying on earth to finish the work that was started. He yearned for Heaven, and that’s something I think a lot people have forgotten to do. Me included.
I now see why the author says nothing is new and it’s all a chasing after the wind. In life, we will be uncomfortable. Heaven is our home, earth is not. Everything that happens here prepares us for eternity. The discomforts, the trials, the diagnosis, the uncertainties, the loss of life, it’s all for something. Something so much greater. The desire to change and want something better for our lives is a wonderful and good thing. Let’s flip our perspective though. Change to become more like Jesus is the only change that will make an eternal impact.
Heaven is our home and we can’t escape the tension until we are called to be in eternity. Longing for the tension to break is actually your longing for something that’s not of this earth. Maybe you haven’t realized it until now, but we were designed to long for something greater than ourselves and for perfect peace. But that longing for the tension to be broken, the weight of life to be lifted, and that chasing for something to satisfy your soul has been your desire for heaven all along. It’s your desire for the Father you never had. It’s your desire for the love you never received. It’s for the approval you never got and still aren’t getting. It’s for the calling you never could figure out. It’s for the purpose you could never find. It’s for someone to save you from your troubles. All of this has always been your desire for Jesus.
We were placed in a perfect world that became broken by sin. But God placed eternity in our souls so that if only we would see it this way, we’d see that there is comfort through the discomfort. Peace through the chaos. Joy in the mourning. And a Savior to fix our eyes on. We are made to feel the tension and discomfort to remind us that this is not our home and that Heaven is.
Seek Jesus and you’ll find yourself changing without even trying. Your gaze will become that of heaven and your discomforts will become joys, knowing it’s all for something greater than you.
xx LA
