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WHAT OUR HEARTS LONG FOR
DATE
2024
LOCATION
North Vancouver
GALLERY PHOTOGRAPHER
@korystevensonphotography
SCRIPTURE
Ecclesiastes.
Highlighted verses:
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23).
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end… I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11-14).
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
“Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future” (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14).
“If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well” (Ecclesiastes 11:3-6).
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
Chelsea's 2024 collection exploring Ecclesiastes.
STATEMENT:
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
Sometimes life feels monotonous, full of unchanging patterns and cycles. Even creation seems to have an unending monotonous cycle… like the sun rising and setting each day. The changing seasons. The moon and tides.
We focus on creation without looking to the Creator. And we are left with that meaningless feeling that never satisfies. That tug on our our hearts— there is something more.
It’s the same as putting our identity in work… career… success… relationships. An unsteady, crumbling foundation. We could spend life chasing after success and accomplishments.
Does this actually satisfy? No.
We could lose this identity in an instant.
No matter how hard we work, we are still left feeling anxious, feeling pain, feeling tired… feeling like maybe we’re missing something… maybe we need more. We are chasing after the wind.
That feeling might come soon, or it might take a decade… but we are always left with that same tug on our hearts— there is something more.
What if our foundation was grounded in something that was actually steady? What if our identity couldn’t crumble? What do our hearts actually long for?
We focus on creation without looking to the Creator.
And the outcome is that tug on our our hearts— there is something more. That longing for something we can’t quite name.
Yet, when we see the beauty of creation through the lens of our Creator… everything changes. That is where we find all joy and satisfaction. That is where we find the answer to that tug on our hearts.
There is nothing we can count on except for Jesus. There is nothing else worth chasing after. Everything is meaningless in comparison to loving God.
There is only one logical response to the ‘heart tug’
To seek Jesus. To abandon the unstable identities we try to give ourselves. To replace this by living in our true identity as children of God.
The heart tug. What our hearts long for.
We long for our eternal home in heaven, but can’t reach it or fully understand it yet. We long to be with Jesus.
There is tension between earth and eternity.
We are bound by time. More than this, we are imperfect and we fall short..
God is eternal, He never falls short… but instead COVERS over all our shortcomings. He endures forever. Loves forever.
How amazing is our God? That we can rest knowing that God holds our lives in His hands with grace and goodness. We don’t have to figure everything out… and we actually can’t figure everything out! We don’t have to carry that.
The heart tug… the longing… the feeling that that is something more… That search for meaning in life doesn’t really matter at all. We are to simply follow Jesus in all our ways. And following Jesus IS the meaning we are searching for.
He is what our hearts long for.
