Come on Spring!

I'm taking a little detour from Sanity Manifesto.  Hoping to finish it this week tho!

Yesterday I went for a run outside.  Granted, it was a short run because about 7 minutes into it, it started pouring.  It was a cold rain, a reminder that though the temperatures were teasing us with Spring like thoughts, it's really very much still winter.

Winter is a long season, especially when you have small children who ache to go outside.  The hints of Spring just make me want to open all my windows, head to the park, and breathe in that sweet, fresh air.

It reminds me of another longing.

Sometimes this life can be like that.  Sometimes everything is going well, you aren't sure how things could be any better...you can be fooled into believing that this is Heaven, or at least how you picture Heaven would be.
But most assuredly, this is not Heaven.  And usually that reminder comes slapping me in the face just like winter shows up on those days when we are least expecting it.  Sometimes it's a big reminder like a death or a loss.  Sometimes it's a smaller reminder...a hurt not healed or a heart closed off.  Sometimes it's the reminder of this fallen world we are living in.

As good as this Earth can be and it can be GOOD...life is such a sweet, sweet gift, it is NOTHING in comparison of what is to come.  And as hard as this life can be and as long as this life can feel, it is most certainly temporary.

Romans 8: 23 "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

It's helpful for me to remember that even though we have the promise of what's to come, that even though we have the Holy Spirit to help us along the way, that Paul tells us we are GROANING as we wait EAGERLY for our adoption as sons.

It's okay to long for the day when EVERY knee will bow, when EVERY tongue will proclaim.  When you hurt, it's good to GROAN to God.  I remember Mary Beth Chapman saying that every day she wakes up without her precious daughter here, even though she finds happiness and joy, she begs God, "Let this be the day You come back."

One of these days it WILL be the day.  Rest assured, He's coming and He's going to wipe away those tears and finally, completely everything will be okay.  It's a good reminder to me to not cling to tightly to Earthly treasures. It's a good reminder that when things are good, the truth is...there will still be bad as long as we are living on this Earth.
And it's a good reminder that when things are hard...one day they won't be anymore.

Revelation 21:  6  "He said to me, "It is done.  I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.  He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."