Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
~1 John 2:15-17
As the warm summer days pass lazily by and I find a steady and peaceful rhythm of life back home where I grew up, I find myself becoming settled. Content. Perhaps even complacent.
I notice myself becoming satisfied with the little, everyday blessings. And I look forward to the future of more settledness and stability. It’s the first time in a long time I’ve felt consistently restful. Consistently at peace with myself and the world around me.
I am creating my home here on earth.
It is what I’ve always longed for- stability. It is something we all internally crave and seek in so many different ways. We seek it in a career, in a spouse, in a house, in our health. We go to great lengths to create it as best we can, and try to ignore the fact that there are so many things we can’t control. That it may actually be just an illusion, and our desire for it may be misplaced.
Ouch.
The world screams at us to love it, to make it our permanent home and be satisfied with what it gives us. To make the most of every opportunity and strive for the best, most comfortable life we can possibly have here on earth, because now is all the time we have.
But God says something different. He says something better is coming- a Kingdom that won’t fade away or degrade. A Kingdom where the first shall be last and the last shall be first, where everything is restored and redeemed and absolutely perfect.
If we have hope in that Kingdom, why do we spend so much time building our empires in this temporary land?
I am convicted by my Father that I have lost sight of His purpose for my life- it is not about my comfort. It is not even about my inner peace (although that is often a wonderful side-effect of being in relationship with Him). It is not about me settling into this world and making my home here. It is about the Kingdom that is coming, that will surpass even the greatest joy I have experienced here. All that I love in this world is simply foreshadowing the greater glory.
So He asks us to live in light of that. To stop worrying about our comfort, health, and stability because He is a good provider and we can trust Him to take care of us. Our concern is for the Kingdom and for the people that have yet to know the hope of it.
Meanwhile, I live in gratitude of every provision, and thank my Father for being so kind to me.
rhythms of grace 