It is not hard to see how this world is broken. We can get glimpses into what the world should look like, but the cracks are evident. Poverty is prevalent all over the world, natural disasters destroy lives, and families are split up. It would be hard to argue that this world is good. We see corruption, death, and hyper-sexualization everywhere. How can anyone live in this ragged world?

It is hard. However it does not have to be. If we have hope in something eternal, then the things that happen in this life don’t matter as much.

It was Good.

How did we get here? How did our world get so broken? Starting in creation God made the heavens and the earth, He said, “It was good” (Gen. 1). Everything was in perfect harmony, and everything was good. All creation operated in the way it was meant too. Perfection. Things did not stay in that state long. As humans chose to follow their passions instead of God. Adam & Eve ate the fruit from the tree disobeying God, and sin entered the world. When that sin entered the world, Adam & Eve were banished from the Garden, and God cursed the very creation He just lovingly made. Saying;

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:17-19

God is perfect, so that demands that everything around him must also be perfect. So through sin entering this world, God could no longer dwell on earth. And now we are feeling the pain of separation from our creator. And while we can now feel the presence of God through the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly be with him until our time on earth is done.

A Desire for Something More.

So this leaves us in an interesting place. A place full of tears, death, and destruction. And we are not satisfied with that. In each of our souls, we have a desire for perfection. We have a desire for things to be better. Everyone has this crack in their hearts. Some people try to fill this gap with things. Some cling to social activism to try and make the world a better place, thinking if they do enough good then the openness in their heart will be filled. Others try to fill the hole with other measures like drugs, alcohol, or sex. Trying to cover the inadequacies in their heart with things that will make them feel better and forget the pain.

These things don’t fill the crack in our hearts. Why? Because we are made for something so much bigger than this world. We were made to dwell with God! So temporary things on this earth can not fill us. But currently, our bodies are here on earth groaning with all creation.

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies."
Romans 8:22-23

Suffering for our Future.

How is there any hope in this? There is only hope in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The one thing that can truly fill that hole in our hearts is faith in those truths. From that comes a renewal of our hearts, where the crack is filled with eternal joy. We have a hope for eternal life past our earthly death.

So when we look to the future, we can look past our current suffering because of the hope found in Jesus. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). If you believe in Jesus, then your future is heaven. That means when you see a family break up, sickness, death, poverty, let your heart ache for the brokenness we live in. But then turn your gaze towards the future of your glory in Christ. And let the broken things we see only deepen our desire to once again dwell with our creator one day.

By: Aaron Hershberger