“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20)
God has designed all things to drive us to Himself. This world, and all that is in it, will never be enough to satisfy the longing of our soul. When the Lord is not our Shepherd we live in perpetual want.
All creation groans in pain because of want. Despite how hard we try to find happiness, it continues to elude us. We are cracked, leaking vessels that can never be filled, no matter how hard we try. Why? Because God has not created us for “things;” He has created us for Himself. Ultimate pleasure is found in living for His pleasure, not our own.
Eastern religion teaches that pain is caused by desire and ceases through the elimination of desire. But neither suffering or desire can be eliminated in this life. Pain should not signal us to eradicate some root desire; it should drive us to the Suffering Savior. He experienced all we experience; He knows our desires and longings – and God wants us to know His response to pain and suffering.
We know what we want; we obsess over what is missing in our life – but God knows what we need. More than anything else, we need Jesus. He is the hope that God holds out to a world in pain.
Whatever else is missing from your life, don’t go without the wonderful involvement of Jesus Christ.