There are times when our spiritual senses are so keen, so lambent and alive that our hearts can hardly be contained and tears drip down our cheeks as if a relief value had been opened to make it possible for us to survive the moment. Those times are rare. They are wonderful. And sometimes, they are painful. They are soul deepening and they help to create in us an even greater longing, a sense of yearning, the German word is die Sehnsucht, that longing that is itself almost inexpressible, unexperienced and yet, in our spirit, is completely logical and good. Here’s C.S. Lewis speaking about it in a sermon titled, The Weight of Glory, that he gave during the height of World War II:
“We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter. Wordsworth’s expedient was to identify it with certain moments in his own past. But all this is a cheat. If Wordsworth had gone back to those moments in the past, he would not have found the thing itself, but only the reminder of it; what he remembered would turn out to be itself a remembering.”
The Weight of Glory,
by C.S. Lewis
I think this is what Jesus was talking about in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). They “shall” be satisfied, perhaps not always in this life, but they “shall” be satisfied. That longing for justice, that hunger, that thirst for righteousness “shall” be satisfied. There are times when we doubt that. We look at our own hearts, our own failures to make as much progress in the Christian life as we want or should and our longing for greater depth, greater intimacy with Christ is unfulfilled and our sorrow in that reality is both painful and helpful. It helps us to long still more, to cry out to God for relief and progress, for revival and passion. That’s a good thing, even if it is uncomfortable.
I love that phrase in the Lewis quote above, “we cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it . . .” Yes. Experience suggests it but never gives it. Not yet anyway. But it will. One day the longing implanted in our hearts will be realized. That longing will be fulfilled. It is promised to all those who have bowed the knee to the One who is Lord of all, Savior, redeemer, provider, protector, brother, friend, God-incarnate, risen from the dead, and our soon and coming King.
Keep your eyes fixed on Him.
The writer to the Hebrews, seeking to encourage a wavering faith in some persecuted believers in the first century put it this way: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
Keep your gaze fixed on Him. Fight for it. You shall be satisfied.
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