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Friday, February 10, 2012

Cravings

A couple weeks ago I started reading a new blog.  It is written by a girl name Melissa Kroll who is teaching English in Bolivia.  When she writes, she chronicles everything from her homesickness, to experiences with demon dogs and being choked in her sleep.  She also tells of times when God give her the chance to share his good news with her church and the students she works with.

Her story is incredible, but the thing that has struck me the most while reading her account of  this experience is how she craves heaven.  When most people are faced with a crappy day, they look forward to the next day.  When Melissa has a bad day she writes things like:

At the end of the day I was weary from the spiritual battles and was ready to call it all quits. I literally made a song to the tune of "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others" (from Sesame Street) and the words were:

One of these days, I'll just be in heaven
One of these days I won't be here anymore.
One of these days, I'll just be in heaven
One of these days I'll be dead on the floor.


Even though it sounds morbid, it was supposed to be amusing (my roommates laughed). I was simply done and throwing in the towel for the day and praying that either the Lord take my soul where it wants to be (the crystal river on the new earth), or restore me to a place where I can sufficiently continue in His works.  (ángeles y demonios)
Seriously, who says things like this?

As a self-proclaimed Christian, I wish I had this deep craving for heaven.  I don't think it is wrong to look forward to the next day God give us, but it can disappoint.  Our hope is found in the time when our Lord comes back for us.  On that day we won't see poverty.  We won't see war.  We won't see pain.  All we will see is the Glory of the Lord, and that is all we will need.

I don't live like that is all I need now.  I wish I did.  All  I can do now is pray that God gives me that craving, because is can change the way I live my life.  If I lived as though I craved heaven I probably would be more likely to slow down and notice the hurt around me then do something about it.  I would actually stop talking about loving my neighbor and practice what I preach.  If I craved heaven, I would do everything in my power to help make it happen and would do whatever it took to see those I love in heaven with me.

So for now, I pray for a heart change.

You should check out Melissa Kroll's blog, Psalm 19, here.  It is for sure worth the time.