My Picture-Perfect Life

There's this image in my head of a picture-perfect life. A life free from the struggles we face, and always filled with light. I have this image in my head of a life where nothing ever goes wrong. Everyone I love is always healthy and safe, I'm healthy and safe, and everyone belongs.

I long for a life where our bodies and minds are always functioning perfectly. There aren't ever any sleepless nights or rough days, and we never have to fear emergencies. I dream of a life where I'm married to the man of my prayers with an easy sort of story. Where we have children of our own who are always living for God's glory. 

I wish we didn't have to miss the people that we've lost. I wish there weren't such a thing as human judgement, and that we didn't have to worry about needs unmet, or a cost... I wish we never had to be lonely, and that mental illness wasn't so strong. I wish we had a cure for cancer, and a quick-fix for every wrong. 

I wish people never fell away from God, or that others didn't take their lives. I wish there weren't homeless people out there, and that I could help every person through every fight. I wish the battles that we face would all instantly be won...

 I guess the life I'm wishing for is the one that's still to come.

You see, I spend a lot of time wondering why we're all stuck here. Heaven seems more and more desirable when we're faced with the things we fear. In the last two years alone, I've been faced with every one of my biggest fears. I've lost almost everything I've clung to, and yet somehow... I'm still here. 

And yet I often wonder why, and wish we could all just find some rest. It's been such a never-ending fight, I find myself unable to enjoy each day's best. I've sort of trained my mind to live in a state of doubt and fear. When I focus on what's going wrong, what's right all disappears. 

Each day brings troubles of their own, some small and others not. But the good can far outweigh the bad, and that's a truth that I forgot. You see, that picture-perfect life I've dreamed of all this time... There have been glimpses of it out there that I didn't see by focusing on the "why?". I had 16 years of pure bliss before my struggles came. Sure, there were times of hardships, but I chose to never cast the blame on the One Who made the good times, the same One Who walks us through the bad. My focus was on thankfulness, and truly, that's the secret to being glad. 

I seem to have forgotten that God's still upon the throne. That picture-perfect life could never truly help me grow. I look back and upon the troubled times, and I long for them to end... but through it all, I still have hope that good things lie around the bend. 

We're never promised perfect, but what we've got is pretty good. And yes, that statement still remains when what we've got doesn't look how we think it should. Just look around at all you have, and thank God for today. Though things are tainted in this life, it's all paving the way to our final destination, where we'll finally be free. But here and now, there's good to be found, and I pray that you would see.

My picture-perfect life will never come to pass down here... But I'm learning to take heart; 'cause He wipes away my tears. And none of them are wasted, they're all watering the ground where a beautiful garden is springing up. There's still life here to be found.