I posed a question to my roommate a little while back...
Do you think that since we live in a place that looks probably a lot more like heaven than most places, we don't long for heaven as much as we would if we lived in a place that more resembled hell?
Yes, these are the random thoughts going through my mind as I drive along perfectly manicured yards, see Stepford wives running miles on end, and step outside my front door to see gorgeous yellow roses blooming almost every day. I live so comfortably. I heard a missionary explain how hard it is to come back to the States because he gets comfortable so easily. When he's overseas he knows he is on a mission. He lives as though he is on a mission. His life is driven by that mission-to make Christ and His love known to all. Here I find myself caught up in my own life all too often. I am amazed and at the same time ashamed of how much more focused my life is when I am on a missions trip or involved in a project at church. As much as I strive after the wind looking for comfort in my life, in my heart of hearts I long for that discomfort that reminds me that I am an exile here. This is not my home. I belong to another kingdom and my life is only a preparation for that place.
This post came to mind because I am laying in my living room, not my bedroom, because the AC is broken and its practically a sauna up there! I want to complain and get frustrated, but would I complain if I was in a hut in Africa somewhere? Who knows. I'd like to think not. But instead of desiring to be somewhere God has not placed me in order to learn this lesson, I must learn to live missionally here.
Lord, help me to never get so comfortable that I live for myself but that I always am living unto You. May the blessings that you bring be occasions for me to rejoice in you and the discomforts that come my way opportunities to lean on you all the more. Keep my eyes focused on you in the midst of great beauty or despair so that I would live a life that brings glory to you.
"Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
