I suppose it is glorious when the moment comes in which you realize the world really has nothing to offer. That no matter how much money you had in your pocket at the time, and it really sinks in that you could buy whatever you want but how quickly it would leave you wanting again. We ask for these moments in our prayers don’t we, “Lord, help me to see the emptiness of the world, or Lay waste to my desires for the things of this world, but help me to set my eyes on things above.” I say I suppose it is glorious because in many instances there seems to exist a difficult transition period. I believe for some it plays out as follows: God lays waste to our worldly view of things, but our gaze has yet to be set upon heavenly things. Maybe it all comes at once in some instances, but maybe sometimes there is a very real and terrible period of time in which our eyes are slow to focus. Could it be that we’ve been roaming in the dark for so long that when the light appears we can’t see it well because our eyes are at best squinting in an attempt to adjust to the light’s intensity?
What so many of us call “real” life is really nothing but a vapor. C.S. Lewis makes a great point in his book The Screwtape Letters in regards to “real” life. If we never question what we mean by real life the enemy has won. If we somehow believe that only what we can see and understand is real life, and that anything contrary or incompatible is irrelevant, then the victory belongs to the deceiver. God is not against thinking or even questioning, because if truth is what is being sought, there is but one place to find it.
Rest assured even in the ominous and lonely transition of worldly to heavenly it is God’s grace that ushers us into this place, and our final destination is a glorious one. If you are in this difficult transition and have a hard time believing grace exists at a time like the present read Romans 1:18-28. I felt the same way and then read it and realized the overwhelming grace of God. Our joy is found in God alone, and He exhibits His matchless mercy and grace by wrecking our idea of real life.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3
Great Stuff! I am reminded of Derek Webb's lyric on Caedmon's 40 acres: "Kicking against these goads sure did cut up my feet." My feet tend to stay sore. I think an inventory of what I really fear would benefit me greatly, dragging into the revealing light that which thrives in darkness. Truth is truth, as you said, what do we have to lose, if truth is what we seek?
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