Searching For Perfection

Searching for Perfection

There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. Deuteronomy 33:26-27

Have you ever been convinced that the next job will be perfect? Have you ever fantasized you could find a perfect place here on earth?

So have I. It took me awhile, but I’ve finally learned heaven is not here. Oh, I knew heaven wasn’t in Kentucky, because my family had been forced to be part of the 1950s great migration to the industrial North due to the lack of jobs. And because of our northern community’s dislike of Appalachians, I quickly learned heaven wasn’t in Michigan, either. Then three years after my husband died, I was offered an editorial job with a ministry an hour north of New York City.

I prayed earnestly, determined not to go unless the Lord was the One inviting us. But surely a ministry would provide the perfect setting in which to serve him. So I moved my two young teens and our mellow cat to New York. Those four years in the East were interesting, challenging, and fun, and none of us would have traded the adventure; but we quickly learned heaven was not there.

Next came the invitation to Colorado Springs, the mecca of evangelical Christendom. Again the Lord was leading, so we moved. To my amazement, heaven isn’t in Colorado, either. Did we miss the Lord’s leading with these moves? Not at all. He had opportunities for us to minister in each location, as well as things for me to learn—including that heaven is only in heaven.

So, in case you’re still looking for heaven on earth, let me spare you a great deal of wondering and wandering: Heaven is not here. Yes, keep praying, and be ready to move if God so directs, but don’t move expecting everything will be perfect.

Remember, among his many promises, the Lord offers his peace (see John 16:33), his power (see Acts 1:8), his presence (see Exodus 33:14), his purpose (see Ephesians 3:11; Romans 8:28), and . . . trouble (see John 16:33). Perhaps we could have done without the promise of trouble, but Jesus rightly warned us. So while disappointments undoubtedly will come, we can meet them in the Lord’s strength.

No, heaven is not here, but the Lord is. And what a difference that truth makes! —SANDRA

Lord, the realization heaven is not here is a reminder my true home is with you in your celestial heaven. Thus, my search for it on earth is but an attempt to erase the homesickness I feel for my true home.

Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

—C. S. LEWIS (1898–1963), IRISH WRITER AND LITERARY SCHOLAR