There was a season when my wife enjoyed baking cakes. And, she was quite good at it. I would watch as she meticulously started the baking process–mixing ingredients, adjusting the taste, getting everything just right. Then, after it was cooked, she moved to the hard part–the decorating. This is where patience and a steady hand were essential. Hours later, a beautiful cake is born.
The task was complete. The job was done. There was nothing left except for us to enjoy the beautiful, flavorful creation. But, rarely did we eat the cake right after it was finished. The preparation process usually took place a day or so before it was needed. After it was baked and prepared, it was then placed into a hard plastic container and put in the refrigerator. There, the beautiful creation sat until the time was right for it to be revealed.
Now, if cakes could talk, you might here something like: “So, this must be my home. It’s kind of lonely, cold and dark, but it’s a nice home. I guess this is what I was prepared for. It seems like there’s more out there, but I’m just not sure. I guess I’ll make the best of it here.”
Like that cake, many of us are convinced that this world is our home. It’s dark, cold and very lonely. It seems like there’s more out there, but we’re just not sure. So, we strive to make the best of it here. We can’t see beyond the door, so we’re convinced that we were prepared for this world.
For most of my life, I lived for this world striving for purpose and meaning. I searched long and hard for something more than what this life has to offer. But, I’ve come to the conclusion that I was not created for this world, but for the world to come. As I strived in vain to find something in this world to hold on to, the fear of death would consume me, triggering waves of panic and fear. I wanted to stay in my cold, dark, hard container of life.
One morning, as I was journaling my thoughts and prayers, I felt like God was telling me, “Russell, I didn’t create you for that world–I created you for eternity.”
I was amazed. I knew at that moment God had created me for something bigger than this cold, dark refrigerator. My purpose was not for this world, but for the next. The fear of death started melting away. Months later, I was reading through the Bible and came across this confirming passage of scripture:
“We know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down–when we die and leave these bodies–we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:1, 5).
You were not created for this world. You were created to spend eternity with God. That’s your purpose. That’s why you were created. We can’t see all of this here in the dark, cold world we live in. It takes faith. “That is why we live by believing and not by seeing” (verse 7).
Prayer: “Father, help me know that I was created for your world, not this one. Release in my heart the ability to live by faith and not by sight. Let the warmth and light of your love wash away the cold, dark fear of death that is working in my life. Help me find my purpose in you. I receive all that Jesus did for me. I choose today to turn away from the wrong things I have done in my life. Cleanse and purify me for your work, Father. Open the eyes of my heart. I ask these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
