sigh no more

Longing.
Every minute, every hour everyone experiences some sort of longing. Whether it be towards an object, a person, or a state of being, longing remains as an inescapable part of our existence on earth.

One of my favorite quotes by CS Lewis is his quote on our existence as sojourners or exiles here:
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

The existence of a Christ follower on earth ought to be filled with longing- longing to know and follow the Lord our God more profoundly and deeply each day, and although His love and peace and affirmation will fill us more than anything else on this earth can, the fact of the matter is that we can and should not ever be truly satisfied here. As my dear Clive stated, we aren't meant for this world. Our hearts cannot and will not be at home here.

This is where I struggle. My longings are so fickle and easily distracted. Thinking about things I've inwardly moaned about in the last week, well, the constant certainly wasn't 'let me be more useful to you, God' or 'give me discernment.' It was more like, 'when will I SLEEP' and 'oh, how I wish this semester was over.' I guess my lesson here is that there is more to life than our mundane longings. Push past it and focus on those that will not only bring God glory, but give us the peace and joy found in His kingdom.

grace and peace

Also, I couldn't leave out this passage by Lewis:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.