If the true saints were too comfortable here on Earth, it would not be good for us.  Some stress/some tension/some “uncomfortability” is actually good for us.  Why?  Because it keeps bringing us back to our Redeemer and His gospel of grace. 

The church’s true children of God, those who are born again to a vital hope in the Lord Jesus Christ–always, in a certain sense, bear about in their souls an uncomfortable feeling while living in this world.  Our Heavenly Father makes sure that this will be the case–and He does this for our good.  It is in this sense, perhaps more than in any other, that the regenerate Christians are “aliens and strangers” in this world, (cf. 1 Pet. 2:11).  It is not so much that we do not “belong” here, as it is that our hearts are not fully and passionately “here.”  Instead, they (our redeemed and Spirit-filled) souls are (really) in heaven, with Jesus.

The world can (and does sometimes) show us its splendor and glory–and our response (done respectfully within ourselves) is, “Ho-hum. This is nice; but it is not good enough (for me). I know, need, and want something more.”  It is not that we do not appreciate the things in the world–it is just that they are not “good enough” for us; they simply cannot satisfy us.  And the reason? . . . Because we have beheld the face of Jesus Christ by faith–and we are just plain “spoiled” from now on.  Anything less than Him is just not good enough.

. . . What this means is, that while we church saints are on Earth, we are always a bit unnerved or unsettled in our souls–not because we do not already possess all the best things a person could own in this world–but because we are not yet in the full presence of Him (Jesus), who is our all-in-all, and First Love. 

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