Longing For Heaven

I recently worked with a young female who was deeply bothered by the media's portrayal of women, pornography, and all the sexual images displayed nearly everywhere. She feared it would affect her boyfriend's view of her and sex, that it was damaging the minds of her guy friends, and that it may cause her marriage to fail in the end. She has a beautiful heart and a Godly passion for purity. She wonders how she can join the fight against porn and sex in the media. It was very refreshing to see!

I asked her what she wanted, what she hoped for. She said she wanted the world to be free of all this filth, for it to be banned somehow so that people would not be affected by it. She wanted a world that was purer, cleaner, and safer for her to live in. She wanted... heaven.

Many people's deepest longings, which oddly enough show up in their obsessions, are longings for heaven. She longs for a world that is safe and secure, a world that she can be free to be herself and not have to worry about how guys are viewing her or what her boyfriend might be stumbling upon on the internet. This is a common longing for women, a world that is safe, ordered, and where relationships can be truly intimate. They want what Adam and Eve had; "they were naked and unashamed" (Gen. 2:25). I once pointed out to a woman that her OCD tendencies, her obsessing over having a clear house and everything in its place, was a longing for heaven. She said it was one of the most profound things she had ever heard. It made complete sense to her. The challenge for both these women, and for us all, is to find peace living in an imperfect world while longing and hoping for a perfect one.

Men's longings are not so much for a safe world but for one that is free from futility and the endless struggle to make things happen, work, and function well. Women were cursed with loneliness, heartache, and vulnerability (Gen. 3: 16). Men were cursed with futility and the endless toil of pulling weeds (Gen. 3:17-19). Men want a place that works and doesn't require their endless sustainment of it. This is why men long for wealth and success. They hope by having that, they will be able to rest and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Here are some dysfunctional behaviors that are really longings for heaven:

**Porn use by men is the desire to feel adequate, competent, and good enough. Sport and hobbie obsessions by men are longings for adequacy, competency, and adventure. Men are often bored. They want something to make them feel alive and strong. Those are longings for heaven, for a world where those longings can be fulfilled.

**Shopping, chick-flicks, romance novels, and the like are ways women seek to feel valuable and worthy of attention. "If I look good, I can keep the man and be accepted by other women," goes the thought. Through fantasy, "I can have the man and the deep relationships I want."

**Drug and alcohol addictions are escapes from pain and a longing for a world that is less painful, simpler, and one that allows for more fun. It's often longing for relationships to be easier and less anxious producing (the whole idea of how "after a couple of drinks I'm able to lighten up and relate better").

What are your obsessions, your "must haves," your strivings all about? Are the really longing for heaven? Maybe you need to quit striving and hope in the Lord, for not only life eternal but also the ability to live life with hope and joy as you wait for heaven. I strongly encourage you to read Romans 8:18-39. I close with two verses from that passage.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared

with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation

waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:18-19).