Desiring Heaven

The thought behind my blog title comes from Hebrews 11, especially verses 13-16: "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

These verses became important to me during the summer of 2009 when I was on a short term mission trip to the Philippines for three weeks. It was a wonderful experience - lovely people, close times with the Lord - but it also took me way outside my comfort zone. My mom and dad planned ahead of time to sneak some slips of paper with special Bible verses into my baggage before I left so that I would find the verses at random times throughout my trip. Very thoughtful of them - especially since I got really homesick half-way through! But, wouldn't you know it, one of the slips of paper my mom snuck into my bag had these verses from Hebrews on it. Somehow she knew that I would probably start longing for home, and even though I desperately wanted to be pulled back into comfort and familiarity, she had to remind me that this world isn't my home anyway! The reminder hardly made me feel less homesick, but she was absolutely right, and she was wise enough to know that reminding me of truth - as unpleasant as it is sometimes - showed greater love than easing my immediate discomfort.

I have thought of those verses many times since then, each time realizing more and more how right she was, and it is something I must remind myself every day, all day long. I am desiring a better country. These material comforts are not the end-all. I may not receive the things promised or the things for which I hope in this life, but I will in the next. I am a stranger here, an exile, and this world is a hard, hard place to live. But ... God's peace is true, and it pervades my heart - if I will let it. God's love is deep and tender and gentle and strong and so real, and it washes over me, cleanses me. He is good, though everything else fails me - and I fail me.

May I always desire heaven.