We want to completely heal, yet we continue to deal with wounds. We want to totally forgive, yet sometimes forgiveness is constant struggle. We want to be perfect, yet we are constantly faced with physical limitations and our sin. We want peace, yet our world is full of strife.
We live in a constant state of not yet.
This reality is hard to navigate. It can put people towards paths of self-loathing, anxiety, and depression.
But if we learn to look at life through the lens of Scripture, we realize we can walk with deep joy on the difficult paths of our lives.
The Bible tells us we were created to live as perfect people in a world of beauty and in the fellowship of a holy God. When Adam and Eve sinned, this became no longer possible. We are all now sinners in a suffering world.
However God did not leave us without hope.
Read what Ephesians 2:4-5 says. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
God did this by sending his Son Jesus Christ to earth as a man to live a perfect life (that we cannot live) and then be the one to be punished for our sins. It is because of this that we can rely on His perfection to make us alright to come before a holy God. God promises to one day create a new heaven and new earth and to destroy sin, death, sorrow, and physical struggles.
But this is not yet, and so yes, we will always struggle. But I think it can be helpful to acknowledge that while many aspects about our lives are not perfect, we can face the hardships and have joy. We can have joy in truth that God noticed our state of suffering and drew near to us. We can mourn AND rejoice as we wait for all to be made right again.
