In the previous blog I wrote, “we instinctively know this is not the way it is supposed to be.” There is so much in that thought that resonates with me. Though living in a broken world is all we have known, in the very depths of our soul we realize that we were created for something more—a place where love, peace, and joy are all we know; a place where there is no more pain, no more division, no more death.
We push back against the darkness is so many ways, seeking the life we were meant to live. But this pursuit can so easily knock us out of phase and ultimately fuel our frustrations, feed our addictions, and amplify our loneliness.
The enemy’s voice appeals to our pain and validates our fear, convincing us the only hope we have to avoid pain is to hide. This feels like truth precisely because his lies tell us that to not be hurt again we must retreat into ourselves. This, however, does not relieve our pain, but rather amplifies it. God’s voice, on the other hand, appeals to something deeper: the desire to be whole, complete, as we should be. This is the desire about which the Apostle Paul wrote:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.
(Romans 8:22-25 Berean Standard Bible)
“The whole creation has been groaning”—this includes you and me, groaning for all to be set right. So often it seems in this desire we become impatient, which leads to problems. Much like Abraham who got impatient while waiting for his son of promise, we can do the same. This desire to forget our troubles, to be completely known and completely loved, to know true rest, and the like is programmed into our very DNA. But if we do not seek this in the context of God’s plan our efforts can be knocked out of phase.
We can begin to seek solutions on our own, and like Abraham, our pursuits can create more problems for us and our progeny. This is why, as Paul reminded us, that waiting patiently is a necessary part of this process.
As with our pain, the ache we experience as we groan for things to be set right—to be redeemed—can either lead us further away or closer to the God who created us. And so too, as with our pain, the ache for wanting things to be the way they are supposed to be is meant to point us to the hope of our Redeemer who will one day make all things new!
