I have never had more opportunities for conversations with such a varied and diverse group of people than I have had in the last weeks in Phoenix and now in Chicago. If there is one common connection in all of the conversations that I have engaged, it is the theme of longing.
If my conversations are any indication, longings and hopes run as deep in the human nature as DNA. My single friend was longing for a relationship and hurting from the past of a broken one; my friend who was in a serious relationship, longed for engagement and commitment from her man; my friends who were engaged longed for relief from the stresses of work and the worries of whether marriage would be all that they hoped for; my friend who was recently married longed for the days when her husband’s six-year long residency would be over so that she could actually spend time with him again; another recently married friend was longing for space and time and rest because she had been so consumed with the tasks of married life together; a mother who had been married for twenty-five years hoped so deeply for the successful future of her children. The list could go on.
These conversations bring me to reflect in these moments on a simple word: contentment. “I have learned the secret of contentment,” Paul wrote. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” These words have played through my mind so frequently throughout these conversations of the past weeks. They have focused my heart on the importance of satisfaction through the sufficiency of Christ. They have focused my heart back on the big picture of life which thankfully transcends so many of the longings of the heart.
The big picture tells me that the glorification of God in my life is preeminent above all other hopes. Any longing in the present moment can never remove the opportunity for this amazing task.
Be glorified, Oh, my God and King
Be glorified, Lord, in everything
Be glorified in the offering
Of my life, Lord be glorified (Be Glorified, Times Square Church)
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