In this life there are times when we become keenly aware deep in our bones that things aren't what they ought to be, like something's broken in places deeper than we can possibly know.

I felt it when our daughter was born with so many complications she was given only a few weeks to live. I feel it every time she's passed a milestone unable to complete it while seeing other kids her age move on with ease.

I felt it again when we entered foster care and heard story after story of the most horrible trauma one human could perpetrate on another. And again when our son was senselessly murdered before he really had a chance to live.  

It's in these times we long for peace, for joy, and for things to be made right. Paul tells us in Romans 8 this feeling isn't imaginary and it's not just us. It's a cosmic, universal problem. He says creation itself groans under the weight of what is lost and broken.

This restless longing we contend with day by day isn't weakness of soul, immaturity, or spiritual failure. It's just part of living in a fractured world still waiting to be restored. The flesh we live in every day, every relationship we hold dear, the systems we build, even the ground under our feet, all bear the marks of a creation that is yet to be set fully free.

But, there's good news, too! This groaning isn't pointless or in endless despair. Paul calls it labor pains. A phrase on which the meaning of the passage makes a dramatic turn. Labor is painful and hard, but it isn't normally a pain which leads to death. It is the pain of something more to come, something wonderful, but something which comes at a cost.

These labor pains tell us creation is straining towards renewal; permanent and complete renewal.

It feels right to begin this week with an open and honest look at the current state of affairs. The longing and fractures are real, but so is His promise for rescue. This groaning isn't the sound of the end, it's the sound of a world waiting for the second half of the "already / not yet"; for Him to finish what He began so long ago. 

When have you felt most deeply and acutely that things are not as they should be. If you could learn to see your longing not as failure but as part of creation waiting for renewal, how might it change your perspective on your struggles?

Father, the truth isn't always easy, but I know it can be trusted. Thank you helping me to see the truth about the world and about my own heart. I'm grateful that the longing I feel isn't meaningless or without hope. Teach me to long and hope deeply and honestly. Help me to trust you to bring all things toward renewal one day. Amen.