Physical geography does not bring closeness to God. But the geography of our heart can move eternity.
Salt and Vinegar chicken wings. My fav. Of all places. Foodlands Waikki. But really you can purchase at any locations.
My son and I were standing in line to pay when a woman behind us started a conversation with me. From New York. Thirty minutes north of New York City. Two daughters my age. Grandkids. After a divorce. Moved here two years ago.
Two things struck me about her life story.
She had arrived in Honolulu with just two suitcases. She had left every piece of furniture and all remnants of her old life back in New York. I had read stories like this before. Now unexpectedly, here in front of me in the flesh. Someone who actually dropped her life and just took off.
She had never been to Hawaii before she moved. So how did she decide on this island?
“I wanted to move as far away from New York as possible.”
The farthest places were Alaska and Hawaii. She picked the latter.
But what confounded me more wasn’t the two suitcases, not knowing anyone, trying to vanquish the past approach. It was that after two years of living in Hawaii, the paradise Joann had left everything behind for. Had yet to materialize.
Me: “Are you happier now living in Hawaii?”
Joann: She shrugs and looks away.
Later, as my youngest son and I are leaving the store. I asked him if he heard her entire story. He replied yes. Then I asked him a really important question.
“Was she happier after she moved here?”
“No, mama.”
“Why do you think that?”
“She didn’t know Jesus.”
Those four words defined her life. This, from an elementary school aged little boy.
Paradise. We all possess an ideal picture of it. We all want to own a piece of it. Totally human. Completely understandable.
But the deepest ocean of joy. Finding authentic fulfillment and the meaning of life……after life didn’t turn out the way you had planned. Is not discovered by moving to a different geographical locale.
Because new life isn’t found in a place. It’s found in the person of and a relationship with Jesus Christ.
You can receive new life without ever packing your bags and moving.
You can recommit your life to Jesus and return to your first love, first taste of paradise, without ever setting one foot on a plane.
In John 6:63 we find this powerful nugget of truth. “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
We can’t find paradise through our own human efforts. Truth is, we don’t need to. Jesus already did that for us on the cross.
Embrace the paradise of eternal life offered by Jesus Christ. Right where you are. Embrace this Real Truth.