Life is so hard because we were made for another world
We enter the world with simple expectations.
We require love, affection and approval.
As we grow we become more aware of our deeper wants, and these can be a burden.
We find ourselves thwarted, stymied by our wishes.
We’re only human after all.
The Serenity Prayer* is a response to this endless struggle:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."
*The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971).
What to accept as part of this broken world, and what to fight against… Don’t we all need that kind of wisdom?
When it comes to unfulfilled wishes, C.S. Lewis writes:
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
The longer we live, the more we realise are actually made for life that continues after death, where our relationship with Jesus will be perfected.
Our desires point to our longing for something much more.
We crave an eternal relationship with the one who created the most beautiful things.
The greatest romance?
Jesus beats that.
The most breathtaking scenery?
God created it.
Your happiest, most euphoric moment?
He was behind it.
As we come down from our earthly ‘mountaintop experiences’, we realise they pale in comparison to what’s yet to come.
As God’s children we’re made for another world.
What a relief that is.
And what a wonderful motivation to make this life count… for eternity.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Alison lives in Sydney's south-west with her pastor husband and two sons. She's a journalist who recently switched to a career in marketing, and is soon to graduate from Morling College with a Bachelor of Ministry.
