Aliens in this World

I am becoming more and more thankful that this world is not my home. I see pain and suffering in the hospital day after day and my heart goes out to people whom I've only just met, to their families whom I may never meet. I've just finished two months on surgery and spent the last two weeks on the trauma service. Yes, the rush of adrenaline and excitement as a stretcher is rushed in the door with someone on it whose life is in jeopardy and the amazing work that the surgeons do to try and save these patients - it's a unique experience. But it's neat only for a minute. And then reality sets in for me and I remember that this person's life and the lives of their familiy members may have just been altered forever. Though the surgeons work with urgency and skill to save a life, there is no guarantee that if this patient survives they'll recover fully. Sometimes we save a life/stop someone from physically dying but the outcome is still dismal....and that is heartbreaking...

Tornados ripped through Alabama yesterday. The latest death toll I've seen is 248 across 6 states that were affected. Huntsville, Birmingham, Guntersville and Tuscaloosa were just four of the cities that were devastated by these monstrous things. Parents may have lost students in T-town, children may have lost parents living in North Alabama. Many people are thankful today that their loved ones are safe but now face moving forward with their lives after having lost their houses and everything in them...

I had to have a talk with myself the other day about loving everyone whom I come in contact with, not just the people that I deem worthy of my love. (How terrible is that!?) Someone recently hurt my feelings; I found out that they were saying terrible things about my character and I had no idea what I'd done to deserve it. I believe that she was upset about something/someone else and that I just happened to be the target of her anger in that moment. But nevertheless, my first reaction was to feel offended; what in the heck did I do to her!? I was angry and immediately wanted to clear my name and call her out. It took me more than a week to be convicted of not loving her as I ought simply because she'd offended me. By the grace of God, I was reminded that I'm not perfect either... Jesus was so good at seeing past angry and hurtful words to the aching hearts beneath the surface. He always had grace and mercy and forgiveness to spare and chose to love those who persecuted Him. And shamefully, my first instinct was to fight back and to withhold love....such is the way of this sinful world and my black heart...

But I am not a real part of this world....I am called to be "in the world, but not of the world." I am a daughter of the King and a follower of Jesus. My true home is in Heaven with my Lord and Savior. I'm just a visitor on this messed up planet - an alien!! And praise Jesus that that's the truth! In 1 Peter 2:11 Christians are urged to live as "aliens and strangers to this world." We are called to live with tangible hope in the redeeming of this world when Jesus returns. We are called to live in this world, amidst pain and suffering and death and persecution and sin, and to love others as Christ did all the while keeping our gaze Heaven-ward...

Piper writes in my devotional today..."There is in the life and teachings of Jesus a relentless tendency toward simplicity. There is a steady impulse toward living at risk, and with a kind of abandon to the Father's care that looks foolish to the well-off world. There is an unsettling otherworldliness that made Jesus and His first followers radically useful in this dead-end world. There is a freedom from things and for the kingdom that thrills the heart of his disciples." Lord, give us this freedom. At all costs, free us from the bondage and enticement of this world and turn our hearts towards the things of Your kingdom. Set our focus on advancing Your kingdom while on earth, but let us not forget that this world is not our home! "What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God," Luke 16:15. Piper writes: "Grant us Lord that we might live as aliens and exiles, fixing our eyes on the all-satisfying, everlasting joy of arriving in Heavn on the Calvary road of love and service..."

Jesus told His disciples that "[His] kingdom is not of this world....it is from another place" (John 18:36). Hebrews 13:14says, "For we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." My favorite CS Lewis quote speaks to the idea that we are aliens in this world:

"If I find in myself a desire 

in which nothing in this world can satisfy,

the most probable explanation 

is that I was meant for a different world."

Laura Story's new song Blessings has absolutely beautiful lyrics (you MUST listen to it, right now; click on the song name), and she too sings that this world is not our home...

"We pray for blessings, We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.

We pray for healing, for prosperity.

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering...

And all the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things...

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear. 

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.

We doubt Your goodness, We doubt Your love. 

As if every promise from Your word is not enough...

And all the while You hear each desperate plea, 

And long that we'd have faith to believe...

When friends betray us,

When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home!
It's not our home....

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights 

are what it takes to know You're near...

What if my greatest disappointments 

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst

This world can't satisfy? 

And what if the trials of this life,

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights, 

Are Your mercies in disguise?"

"We need to keep our eyes fixed on Him - the real Jesus of history, not just some vague idea of God floating in the air. What He did and how He lived and what He said will change us, if we really listen to Him and ponder the purpose of our predestination: "Those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son," Romans 8:29 (Piper, pg. 259 of Taste and See)." Aliens and strangers to this world. That is our calling. I pray that we'd be mindful of who we truly are when the struggles of this world and the struggles in our own hearts weigh us down. We are fighting against the sinful nature and this sinful world daily. But we take heart and find hope in knowing that we do not fight alone! And there will be a day when the burdens of this place will be no more...Until that day, I pray we'd hold onto hope and look forward to the return of our King.