Longing – Romans 8:18-27

That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. Romans 8:18-19 MSG

Our passage describes an inner tension we creatures share with creation. By design, creation can barely contain its longings. It knows God’s purposes are embedded in this longing. What purpose is this?

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Romans 8:22-25 MSG

As a younger man, I took issue with Paul; “A sterile and barren body? Speak for yourself!”  I was young and strong. I had visions and the energy to pursue them. Today, in my sixties, I am more sympathetic to Paul’s description of the body, “Yes Paul, I see what you are getting at!”  

The glory of young men is their strength, and the honor of old men is their gray hair.

Aging has helped me sympathize with creation regarding longing. God subjected us both to this sense of futility, “in hope“. While I would like to return to the garden of my youth, I find the angel, with flaming sword, still guards the gate. This is ok because there is something growing inside me greater than my desire to have it all in this life. It is that hope of what lies ahead.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 MSG

The sixties are turning out to be times of transition, complete with their own unique temptations. When I am tempted to look back with longing for the glory of my youthful strength, the Spirit understands and patiently redirects my longing to his current presence and our future glory. Waiting, in his Word and His Spirit, is not hurting me. It is putting things in context. The declining glory of this life is a temporary arrangement. The longings of my temporal body are being exchanged for the more enduring reality of Jesus Christ and the inevitability of his coming kingdom.

So all things are good – even the aging of my current tent. I am so grateful for it. It has served me so well and still has some life in it. I intend to give it reasonable care and liberal use, as it will allow. But, as the canvas strains and the grommets rust, the ocupant can rejoice because a new tent will be issued, one that will never age. And midst the crucible of aging there is the opportunity to prove Jesus’ claim, that …

My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Father, I pray that in this final trimester, in the presence of increasing weakness, our contractions will not be be despised. May a new light radiate from us as our longings are transformed into  joyful anticipation. May our hearts be at peace as we decrease and you increase. Reconcile all things unto yourself. Amen.

 

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