“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3) There is an old gospel hymn that says, “I’ve a home prepared where the saints abide. Just over in the glory land.” It is not a song about nothingness or fantasyland. Instead, it is a story about the fact of the promise of Christ to all who know Him.
Have you ever thought about the purpose of pain and sorrow in the world? The deep agony of losing a loved one or watching a friend suffer from sickness seems so ‘counter God.’ The argument of pain and suffering in the world is the grandest polemic that an atheist has for unbelief in Christ. And yet, even that argument falls flat before a sound presentation of the sovereignty of God.
Pain and heartache remind us that this world is NOT our home. They are God’s heavenly reminders that we should strive for eternal truth and place our hope upon the truth of God as our Lord and Savior. In fact, troubles can awaken a lost soul to search for the ultimate integration point of life. They pull us to consider our origin and our destiny.
On the other end of the spectrum of thought is the purpose of pleasure and beauty. Why do we have rapturous moments of joy and fulfillment? We see our children and grandchildren being good citizens, or we watch them accomplish and get rewarded for their hard work, and we feel their sense of purpose. Whether mountains or waves at the beach, we see and feel beauty.
What if joy and fulfillment in this life are like God pulling the curtains back for us to experience the first fruits of the completeness of heaven. Like biting into a juicy steak, only to discover we can’t have the whole thing, so moments of rapture in this life remind us that we are created and born-again for another place—a place of ultimate and total fulfillment. C.S. Lewis called it, “Shadowlands.” If we taste the shadow, we are compelled to seek the substance. We long for the whole steak!
A few years ago, Susanne and I traveled to the Outerbanks of North Carolina. We went to Kitty Hawk to visit the Wright brothers museum. While in the gift shop, we came to the counter to purchase a couple of shirts. The lady asked where we were from. When we told her Mississippi, her eyes widened, and she said, “I used to travel back there every year with my dad to go to a family reunion back in the 1950's. It was before the interstate; we drove all the way to a place called Chunky.” I just laughed and told her that some of my family lived and are buried in Chunky. What a small world—we were four states away and still close to home.
Whether trouble or joy, heartache or laughter, life is filled with events that let us know God is nearby. He is either calling us to consider our path, or encouraging us to stay the course. In the end, we’ll discover that the events of life remind us that we are always… Close to Home!
