A Spring of Joy

Imagine with me for a moment… heart longings.

Adam and Eve. Just banished from the Garden of Eden. They’ve given up paradise in order to have the “eyes to see like God”, and instead they’ve found their own sin, nakedness and shame. And they work. Work that’s never been difficult before, only joyful. Now there is pain. There are thorns that inflict wounds on hands and arms. There is childbirth… the highest of joys mingled with the strongest of pain. And there is the agony of watching one of your own children murder his brother. What must swirl through their minds? And their hearts? The agony of all they’ve given up–for this?

Yet, God promises them salvation. A redeemer. I wonder what it must have been like for them to wait.

Imagine Adam, stopping his gardening to wipe sweat from his brow and stare up into the sky. Heaving a sigh as he longs for redemption.

Imagine Abraham trudging wearily mile after mile, knowing he’s been promised a heritage vaster than the stars in the sky. Did he stop to stare at those stars and long for redemption?

Imagine David sitting on his throne, King of all Israel. Imagine the memories and shame that must send him reeling. Does he bow his head and weep as he longs for redemption?

Imagine Peter sitting cross-legged in the sand by the Sea of Galilee. Do you think he ever just sat and gazed out at the water and longed for the one that had been promised for years?

Imagine what it is like in the world today. A small child caught in middle of an ugly divorce, cringing at night as she hears her parents fight. A single mom battling the streets of the inner city for the life of her children. Victims of natural disasters losing everything they own, perhaps everyone they love, staring at the refuse that used to be home. The childless couple being denied adoption rights and knowing they will spend their lives in a home where no childish laughter screams. The politician who’s filled his life with himself and women and alcohol. The man or woman down the street who runs after education or money thinking that will satisfy.

Imagine their longing.

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The refuge for the poor
A shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears
And return your wasted years
This is our God
So call upon His Name
He is mighty to save
This is our God

A father to the orphan
a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness
and comfort in our sadness
This is our God
This is our God

So call upon his name
He is mighty to save
This Is Our God

This is/You are the one we have waited for
This is/You are the one we have waited for
This is/You are the one we have waited for
Jesus, Lord and Savior
This is our God

A fountain for the thirsty,
A lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble
And crowns for the faithful
This is our God
So call upon His Name,
He is mighty to save
This is our God

So call upon his name
He is mighty to save
This Is Our God

This is/You are the one we have waited for
This is/You are the one we have waited for
This is/You are the one we have waited for
Jesus, Lord and Savior
This is our God

(2001. Written by Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves.
Found on his This Is The Noise We Make album)

This is our God.

Mary felt that longing and held its promise in her arms. That promise offered His life and His perfection by stretching out His arms to us on the Cross. Those arms are open to hold us today, and resting in those arms will fulfill every longing we could ever know.

He is the one we have waited for.

Wait no more.