Expectation

Every journey has a destination, and every story has an end. The song is beautiful while it lasts, but there always comes the moment when the last note hangs quivering in the air, and when it has finally fled away, we are left in silence. It cannot last forever. We long, as we turn over the last page of a beloved book, to go back to the beginning, reaching out desperately for what has been, but can never be again. As we see the end of a beautiful road drawing nigh, we wish hopelessly that it would go on and on...forever. But it must come to an end; it could not stay so beautiful forever, or if it did, we should grow weary of it. Better to let it go while the memory is still sweet, and hang on instead to that memory, however mingled with pain. But why then the pain? Why are we not content? Why do our hearts still ache for something more? It is because this is not enough. Even in our reaching backwards, we know that what we really want cannot be found there. What we are truly seeking lies ahead of us, not behind. We were created for perfection, but we have fallen--this we know. and in ourselves we are dead, and heedless of our plight. But our ransomed souls cry out for restoration; we long to be made whole. In this life, we will never be complete. Everything around us, and we ourselves, are only broken copies of what was; fleeting shadows of what will be. This world is not where we belong. It is full of joy and beauty, to be sure; but the highest beauty is mingled with pain, and the deepest joy is bittersweet...and there will always be an end. That is why there is that ache that will never quite go away; that longing we can never quite define; that hole that is never quite filled while we remain in this life. One day we will go home; we will become what we were made to be, and we will be complete. And then we will be caught up and swept away by a beauty and a joy so high, so deep, and so perfect, that an eternity will not be sufficient for us to begin to comprehend it. And this time, it will never, ever end. Hallelujah!

"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the redemption of our body For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perserverance."

~Romans 8:19-25~