Harmony or Tension

Oftentimes people speak of harmony and having their life in balance. This phrase appears to be too eutopian. This is not reality. On the contrary, life is full of chaos, tension, and turmoil. We find ourselves fighting for more. Fighting for more love, more quality family time, more devotional time, more purity, more justice, and the list goes on and on. Battling against us are the unlimited lists of excuses of I was too busy, or I had things to do on my plan for today, or I will pay attention to junior when I am older, or I woke up late I don't have time for God today or whatever.

The fact of the matter is that we have this hunger and thirst for righteousness, a hunger for more of God’s Spirit, and his voice. As Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness” (NIV, Matt 5:6). We are not in harmony, we are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We desire to know God more. We desire wholeness and purity. We struggle, strive, and even fight for more than the brokenness that we experience. The Apostle John restates this principle in Revelation, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the Spring of the Water of Life” (NIV, Rev 21:6). Thus, God’s Church is thirsty for only what He can provide and no other.

On eight separate occasions in Revelation John dictated in varying forms the phrase, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life” (NIV, Rev 2:7). This phrase rings in my ear over and over. The truth is that this world offers tension, struggle, and brokenness. Jesus knew this, and He tells us to fight. In this fight, our strength is measured by our hunger to eat of the Tree of Life and to drink of the Spring of the Water of Life. The Tree and the Spring represent wholeness. Our strength is measured by our hunger to be whole. Knowing both sin and righteousness, the soul cries out for more of wholeness.

We are hungry.

We are thirsty.

for more of God.

Let's embrace that.