When I was in seminary I went to a lecture taught by one of my professors on the theology found in U2's songs, particularly the doctrine of unrealized eschatology. Using U2's song, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" he explained the concept of "not quite yet." Although we have the promise of God, we do not fully experience all that God is until the perfection of heaven. For now, we are limited in what we see and know, but we have the promise of experiencing the fullness of God one day.
On a much, much smaller and less significant scale I have been able to apply this to other areas of my life. I was there, vacuum-sweeping the floor of Bojangles and even as my career seemed hopeless, there were those moments of hope and expectation when I knew something better was coming. I can also recount the agonizing days of heartbreak from a broken relationship. While it often felt as if my heart would never heal, there were those moments of hope and excitement in which I could actually anticipate moving on. In the same way, I live this life with the hope and expectation of the day when my relationship with God is a fully realized reality.
I have found the past year of my life to be very difficult. If 2008 was the year of humbling, 2009 is the year of restoration.
I think how in the midst of severe pain and frustration I had moments of hoping toward something better in terms of my professional and personal life. If that be the case, how stronger the hope of unrealized eschatology in my spiritual life. I don't always "feel" God beside me. And I have learned that is ok. I don't have to "feel" to know. And when I don't feel as if he's close, I remind myself that my experience of God is somewhat limited for now and the full reality of his presence is still to come.
So, just as I looked toward the days of the realization of hope in other areas of my life, I look toward the day of the full realization of my spiritual hope. Because if there is one thing I've learned lately, it's that my relationship with God must dictate who I am and what I choose to do.
Not experiencing fullness now is often very difficult. But, faith that keeps us pressing towards what we will experience fully one day is faith worth sustaining.
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That's really what all of us have to do. If we focus on the nows we can get very discouraged. Also our walk with God seems to go down the drain then to. Having a walk with God is a day to day thing. Everyday is a new day. Everyday can be better or worse than the day before depending upon what we choose. However EVERY day God wants the best for us. We just have to choose to do His will! We may not understand where he's taking us or where we are at. This is why he is our shepherd Psalms 23. If everything was just perfect all the time we would have no need for a shepherd. And yet we are very needy because he sees what we cannot see and understands what we cannot understand. What I found to be true for myself is if you don't "feel" that he is near you pray about it and ask him why. When I did this my answer was because I wasn't spending enough time with him in his word and in prayer to him. I had accidentally in all the business of life shoved God aside. It's like having a friend and never talking to them. Your friend would not be very happy. Your friendship would not be close. And it's the same with God. I am not saying that is why you feel that just saying that was the case with me.
Love your blog!
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