“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
We have settled into our new home very nicely, thank you. We are exploring the city and surrounds, finding quaint little shops, cute cafes, dusty bookshops filled with hidden treasure and eclectic markets that sing to my soul. We have settled into a fellowship, we found a new GP, a butcher that we like and we can even boast with new driver’s licences and number plates…the joy of moving interstate.
What we haven’t found yet is a replacement for The Spudshed. The Spudshed? Not to worry if you haven’t a clue what I am talking about. No-one outside of Perth has either and that is the root of our problem. How do you explain to someone who has never experienced the joy of going to one store, that is not a supermarket, and finding not only your baked goods and meat, but also local produce fresh from the farm. Where you can touch the veggies and sniff (I do, sorry) the passion fruit, inhaling the tropical scent of our childhood, bringing it home in a basket without having to contend with layers of plastic wrap and a mountain of Styrofoam.
The Spudsped is like a great tv commercial…but that’s not all…there is nuts and dried fruit, spices, grocery items, baked goods, and random things that baffle the mind! A real plethora of items to delight someone who hates to go from shop, to shop, to shop, not even mentioning the ordeal of having to visit the supermarket. I was definitely born in the wrong era.
We have traversed the city and country-side, trying to find an equivalent, but alas, I am still singing the blues. Every time I discover a new market that seems promising (thanks Google!), I walk away feeling conned. All promise, but no joy!
I love the quote by CS Lewis at the top of the page. He so eloquently words what my heart feels more often than not. The Spudshed is an accurate picture of the Father’s presence– the one place you go where every need is met. In His presence is fullness of joy, in His presence is freedom and His love covers us completely.
There are many things, many distractions, that promise much but delivers very little. Money, fame, education, sex, drugs, friendships…all of these promise to bring us fulfilment, wholeness, healing, but the promises are as empty as the consequences are dire. How often do we settle for spiritual food, neatly packaged in plastic wrap, beautifully presented on a Styrofoam platter, when we should be craving the opportunity to touch heaven, to feel, to smell and to taste Truth and Love…and remember where we were before we became souls. Our spirit man remembers and yearns and we the feel the deep hunger and discontent in the deep of us.
For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Hebrews 13:14
Therefore, we must choose to lay down everything at the feet of Jesus…all our wisdom and knowledge, our ministries, our plans and burdens, every single thing that tethers us to this world. We surrender and allow the Lord to untangle us, so that we can be knit to Him alone.
So then, we must cling in faith to all we know to be true. For we have a magnificent King-Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose into the heavenly realm for us, and now sympathises with us in our frailty. He understands humanity, for as a Man, our magnificent King-Priest was tempted in every way just as we are, and conquered sin. So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness. Hebrews 4:14 -16 TPT