Oh, how I long for something better. Something better than my circumstance, my day, my life, this world. I have one good day and I’m unsatisfied. Each day takes from the other. That time would stand still. My thirst has yet to be fully quenched. I’m almost there, and yet, not yet. I want more. Another try. Another place. Another time. Born not of this world yet coming through it and longing out of it. Born for more yet born with so little, of so little, to not much at all.
I desire greater, higher, and deeper. I crave fulfillment beyond my heart’s own bounds. I don’t know what it will be, except that when it be. That which will subdue and settle my uneasiness and restlessness. I have no words for it. But I can feel it. I will know it when it finally comes.
The fire within resounds and soars beyond the shell that encapsulates my being. My soul can hardly stand it. This place that imprisons me, barricades me, holds me back from that something better.
When I am disappointed time and again I long for something better.
When my flesh burns of being human I long for something better.
When my heart stings of broken heartedness how I long for something better.
When I am reminded of memories past I long for something better.
When I am in the present tense I long for something better.
I can’t see it but I know that when I do, whether shunned vision or wetted eye, I will see that which beholds my being and it will be something better.
That I would be at rest, when finally at rest. Something better than this. For I know, I just know, there is something better.
“And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” (Heb. 11: 39 – 40)
When one has that something better it is beyond imagination. It is fully intoxicating. Other worldly. Another emotion. So irreplaceable it cannot be found anywhere else. If you have had the privilege to have someone in your life that is something better you know without that person life will never be the same. Without it you are lost, empty, always looking to find anything to be that something better. You will fail each time. You will be void. You will be hurriedly behind. Your future longing for that something better will be reflected in the past as having lost it. That something better has affected you so deeply you are not the same. You see life differently, you feel differently, you think differently and admittedly, you are different because of it.
In the letter to the Hebrews the author culminates the hall of faith passage by a spiritual testament to these heroes of the faith, the followers of Yahweh, and who they meant to the New Testament believers then and now. Moreover, it is a profound eschatological view from a lens of the Old Testament prophets regarding the sovereign plan of God. The men of old had a parcel of the revelation of God in the sense they only had the promise of the Messiah to come through the words of the prophets. The New Testament believers, however, have received Him through the testimony of His words and works thus receiving the promise of Himself, thereby being in a position more privileged than the Old Testament saints. Our faith can look back at the accomplished work of Jesus Christ.
The New Testament believers, those who believed in Christ at the time of His ministry on earth through those who believe after His death and resurrection have the full revelation of Him and thus the era of fulfillment of Christ. Though the men of old received divine approval for their faith they did not obtain that which would result in the ultimate promise, Christ the Messiah. Absolutely they died in faith and entered heaven before the presence of the Lord. However, they died before seeing Christ’s appearance on earth.
Through the atoning work of Christ we are able to share in His perfection. We cannot become perfect on our own. Christ alone does so. He perfect’s our faith. Thus, we share in the same faith in God. The Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers unite in faith through Christ. Together we have received that something better. Our something better in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I have found my something better. In Him. Not because He wasn’t there but because I had not shown. He was always there. I accepted His invitation. He gave. I received. He has set me free. There is no wall, prison, barricade, or chains that hold me back from that something better. In Him I am free. I know no bounds. My soul is safe with the soul-maker.
I close my eyes and know You my God are there. I never have to doubt, I never have to wonder about it. You are so assuredly mine and I am forever yours. You, my Lord and my God are unmistakably who You say You are. I don’t have to see to believe. I am there and getting close each surpassing day with each honored breath You bestow. I am close because You are closer, my something better.
I no longer long for what I have been longing for. But for more of You on that one treasured day I be enraptured out of this world and before your resplendent holy presence. Oh heavenly! My something better.
When I am disappointed You are something better.
When my flesh burns of being human You are something better.
When my heart stings of broken heartedness You are something better.
When I am reminded of memories past You are that something better.
When I am in the present tense You are that something better.
I don’t have to see it because I know I have from within me. You behold my being and it is good, my something better.
He is something better. In Him is life and faith. There could never be something better than He. Today, yesterday, eternally. In Him is to be known. Satisfied. Together. Finally. At rest.
In Him are all things and that ever was and will to come. Something better than all of this. For He is something better.
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Photo credit by the author. Location: Lake Geneva (“Lac Leman”) in Geneva, Switzerland
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The Word in Motion 