Posted on by Johanna

Eternity in our Hearts

It is hard to wrap our minds around the infinite. I remember as a kid talking to my dad about outer space and the universe. I was in awe over the fact that if you kept going up into space you would never hit a wall that says no outlet, rather you could keep traveling forward. WOW! I could see where the desire to be an astronaut would be appealing; to be able to study this incredible universe. Its amazing, but yet unfathomable all at the same time.

We trust a lot in things that will all eventually fail us and come to an end. We trust in money to keep us stable. We trust in the loyalty  and presence of loved ones. We trust in medicine, exercise to keep our health in tact. We trust in the intellect to help us feel in control. We can even trust in doctrine and theology. In Ecclesiastes we read, all of this is meaningless on its own merits without the living God. To everything there is a season, a time and a purpose. Why would we want to put our whole hearted trust in these things, without God these things have no meaning.

God on the other hand has no end. He is ever increasing. He will never fail us. I was thinking how so many don’t give any thought to eternity. It seems easier to live for the now, but yet all the same time we were created for eternity, so no matter how we try to escape the thought of eternity, it is written in our hearts. The trap is we try to substitute this longing in our hearts for eternity for finite things that come to an end. St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they can find rest in you.” This is an ongoing journey. On this earth we have to deal with the restless struggle, but we choose to respond to it by falling at the feet of Jesus every day. He renews us daily. We must be renewed daily. We can’t just store up for a week and think that is going to sustain us. It doesn’t work that way just like we get hungry for food. We could eat a huge meal if we wanted, but the next day we will have to eat again to be nourished or we will whither away. Our hearts and souls are no different. We hunger for eternity, for God who is never ending, who never runs empty, who never fails. Why fill this hunger with cheap substitutes that don’t nourish that don’t satisfy? Its a trap, the substitute might seem appetizing but its death in the end. Its like the irony of being on a boat thirsty, seeing ocean water all around, but knowing that if you drank of that water it would kill you.

It seems so simple, yet we can be so foolish. We have two choices, choose the finite or choose the infinite. Trust in everything that will eventually come to an end, or trust in the One who has no end. Trust in the thing that only leads to death or trust in Him who is the giver of life.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to hit a wall that says no outlet. I want to keep traveling forward discovering the wonder and awe of God and all the while being filled up with Jesus, the only one who can fully satisfy. I daily want to get on the rocket ship of my heart, and set out on the journey that He has set before me. I don’t want to just live a hum- drum Christian life only saying and doing all the appropriate things, but rather I want to live it with my whole being. Will you join me?

Eternally His,

Johanna

15 Replies to “Eternity in our Hearts”

  3. Great post, Johanna, and very true. It is foolish the things we trust in without even realizing it. May God help us all to trust only in Him completely and always. 🙂 God bless you.

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      1. We all are, friend. Sometimes, I have to give my head a shake and tell myself to smarten up. lol. God is so patient with me. Love you. 🙂

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  6. Great post. The reference to Ecclesiastes made me think of Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has set eternity in the hearts of humans.” Just thinking of Eldredge and that verse, it’s like God set this deep longing way down there in our hearts, personalized to a degree for each of us to call us home to him. I think he set something in us that just haunts us. For one person, it might be a song. Another it might be a scene in a movie, or maybe the way the light filters through the sky at sunset, or the smell of an oak tree on a summer day. But whatever it is, the only place we can really find that haunting calmed is resting in hope that one day we will have him in front of us and that haunting will be gone. Which I think is perfectly summed up in Romans 8:23-25, “but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” God bless!

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    1. Wonderful comment! Yes for me I have several things that whisper a deep longing when I encounter it. I just remind myself that it’s not in them that lies the beauty but Jesus whispering to me through them. So awesome!!

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