By Christa Harrison —
Have you ever thought you grew up in the wrong time? Maybe you’ve pictured yourself thriving on the frontier with Laura Ingalls Wilder or in the Pride and Prejudice era where you converse intelligently on literature as you take leisurely three mile walks around your gardens. Or maybe you think you belong in the future when things like driving and cooking will be obsolete because robots will do those things for you.
At some point, we all feel like we don’t “belong” where we are. We feel misunderstood, awkward, or like our opinions differ from everyone’s around us. We wrestle like Solomon in Ecclesiastes because our efforts come up short, our excitement fails, and we're back wondering what all the effort is for. Maybe somewhere else we would feel like we belonged, like we were successful, efficient, and purposeful.
Yet, living in a different era wouldn’t fix these struggles. The purpose or feeling of completeness I search for is something that won’t be found here on earth. We all know this, but it’s so true. We aren’t made for this world. We were made with an eternal purpose, not an earthly one. It’s good to wrestle with that, to desire to be somewhere else. We should desire to be with our creator and sustainer.
God has used this social distancing, anxiety-ridden culture around me to remind me of the truth that this world is not my end. Things don’t always fit, especially right now when everything is thrown out of whack. And I don’t just desire to have my freedoms again– to physically attend church, go out to eat, to walk around a mall. I desire far more—to be with the One who holds my heart!
I hope you’ll be encouraged by this (throwback!) Sandi Patty/Wayne Watson duet:
So I’m waiting for another time and another place Where all my hopes and dreams will be captured With one look at Jesus’ face Oh, my heart’s been burning My soul keeps yearning Sometimes I can’t hardly wait For that sweet sweet some day When I’ll be swept away To another time and another place. When you feel like you don’t fit, or you’re in the wrong place, remember that this is a good thing. A grace from God that you’re yearning for something beyond the world we’re living in right now.