The Beauty of Aching

Ache. Even the word sounds painful. Like a sound you make when you get a papercut or something. Or you smell something bad. Whatever, it doesn't illicit happy thoughts in general. But it does allude to something akin to longing, abiding, perseverance. It's an achey day....

There have been many things this week that have hurt and cut and killed my spirit, so today's experience shouldn't really have been as unexpected as it has been. And even as I reread that last sentence, I realize my hope is lost.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:24-27

Prior to this passage, Paul is talking about creation groaning and waiting on God's redemption of His children into freedom. So, quite appropriate I feel. Not that my present suffering is in anyway comparable to the eager expectation of Jesus' Second Coming. But I do understand the longing for a hope that is just never quite fulfilled. but how happy should I be that my longing cannot be filled by something earthly? Temporary? My ache is only a testament to that eternity which God has placed in the hearts of all men. So, I choose to ache gladly, knowing that my hope and my life and my joy is safe in the arms of God. My worth and value and beauty rest fully in His love for me. Love deep enough and wide enough and high enough and long enough to sustain whatever crisis I find myself in. Who could want for a better love than that?