Poor Substitutes

Todd gets home from Spain today and just in time.  The soft T-shirt he sleeps in—the one he left behind at my request—has lost its scent, and I am desperate for the sweetness of morning snuggles. 

The world is scary.  People are mean.  Bad things happen.

However, none of that matters much when I’m buried in Todd’s warmth, breathing him in and listening to his heartbeat.  For twenty-five years, my husband’s presence has worked a chamomile effect on my anxious heart, helping me accept the things that aren’t and rejoice in the blessings that are.  

But he’s not here.  His shirt is—a very poor substitute for the real thing—and I’m feeling grumpy and sad. 

I know I’m not the only one.  Everywhere I look, it seems that people are ticked off about one thing or another, each other, mostly, and Christians, in particular.  At least that’s the case on my social media feeds. 

I guess it’s no wonder.  Christians aren’t perfect.  We do make a lot of mistakes, and we often let people down. 

We know that we fall short.  That’s why, with the Spirit’s help, we lay our hearts in God’s hands on a daily basis to be transformed into something new.  We want to get over our “humanness.” We want to stop irritating and disappointing other people (and ourselves) and become a more accurate reflection of our Savior as much as other people want us to.    

The problem is this.  This whole transformation process we are in?  This noisy and painfully public rebuild?  It isn’t scheduled for completion this side of Heaven.  Only when we join the Father there will He finish the work He began in us at the point of our salvation.  Only then will we be perfect. 

If you are longing for the real thing, I’m afraid you’ll just have to befriend Him yourself.  My brothers and sisters and I, by our own admission, are very poor substitutes.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”  Revelation 3:20