Divine Romantic Tension

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the
Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11


We were not created to be earthbound. I know this but just a few minutes ago I read an essay that expanded on that truth. It really stuck with me because of the way the author described the tension of waiting to go home. I think he was trying to make some sense of why bad things happen but that wasn’t what grabbed my attention. It was the mention of waiting and wanting that got me.

My husband Otto and I watch a television show in which the two main characters have been dancing around each other for a few seasons now. We all know they’re going to end up romantically involved at some point but for now we watch as their draw close and then draw apart relationship creates a backdrop for the actual story of each episode. It’s just one example of that tension that myriad authors and scriptwriters use. What makes this one different to me, is that my hubby cares. Otto doesn’t read chick lit or watch chick flicks. Normally those background relationships are of no interest to him but for some reason, he’s invested in these two characters.

Reading this morning about how we shouldn’t get too comfy here on earth because this isn't our true home I thought about how much easier it most likely is for women to relate to that than for men. Most of us gals read chick lit, watch chick flicks and certainly get caught up in real life romance, our own and those playing out around us. We’re familiar with the pining for and waiting for, the big moment.

Otto, like most men, lives more in the moment, in the now, than in the, what happens next. As women sit around talking about maybe this and maybe that, the men around them half listen with glazed over expressions on their faces. Still seeing my husband’s interest in this one set of characters proves to me that somewhere in all of us is a yearning for the happily ever after. Some of us just yearn more heartily than others.

What is the ultimate happily ever after? I think it’s heaven. I believe that most Christians would agree. There is an unsettled quality to life here on earth, even on the very best of days. We are not home yet and we want to be home.

Do you know people who are anxious all or most of the time? I do. Some of them claim to be Christian but I wonder how that is possible. With the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life now and the promise of heaven, I, praise God, experience joy on some level, most of my days, even in some really trying times. Yet, there is an expectancy that is sometimes excitement, sometimes melancholy that lets me know that I am waiting for something exceedingly important.

One day I expect that Otto and I will see our TV characters united in romance. It’s pretty obvious that it will happen. That may signal the end of the show. Once that tension is taken away it becomes just another whodunit hour. Still it’s the stuff of romance novels, chick flicks and TV shows and it sells.

One day I believe that the tension that exists inside of me and hopefully you, will be answered as well. For us, that tension, that longing, will end when we fall, gratefully into our Father’s embrace, to begin our divine romance, our own happily ever after.