2 Corinthians 5:4-6 - Why I don't fit in

Herpert Ponting, Antarctic explorer (1911)

You've seen those blurry, old black and white photos of polar explorers. They're swathed in fur parkas or at least fur-lined coats. Some were staged in some warm, professionally-lit photography studio. Then there were the ones taken on location at the North or South Pole. They're squinting their eyes against snow-blindness. Moisture from their breath has condensed into icicles on their moustache and beard.

I felt like that a few times lately, walking the dog. Even the tears in my eyes started to freeze to my eyelashes. I know, I'm a wimp compared to polar explorers. Or even your every-day Canadian that deals with sub zero temps more than a few days in midwinter. 

We hit extreme hot or cold and we say, "This isn't fit for man or beast." And we're right... there are some things that we're simply not created for, and it's more than changes in the weather. In actuality, we were made for something else. (See June 17, 2020 - 2 Peter 3:13 - Back to Normal)

It's more than a place called heaven. We were made to be with God Himself. As Augustine of Hippo said, "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." 

Paul put it this way:
"While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:4-6, New Living Translation).

Father,
Less than ideal situations remind us that all is not perfect here, or that we don't seem to quite "fit in," that something is missing. Help us to "rejoice in hope" (Romans 12:12), the hope of being resurrected to life with You. Amen.