Is your heart restless?

I've been reading a book called Choosing Rest and it's neat how God tied that in with some of the things that the folks from Porter's Call spoke about. The book is basically about all the things in our lives that prevent us from feeling rest and peace and what we can do to move to a state of rest.

Anyway, I'm gonna quote a bunch of it here. Parts that have really stood out for me so far.

First, why do we sometimes have tears of joy? In Ecclesiates 3:10-11 it says

I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end

Then the author explains,

God made us to respond to the beauty of the moment, yet He also made us for eternity. We ache because as the moment touches us, we realize we cannot hold onto it. We ache because we sense in a way we cannot express that all moments are meant to fit into some grander scheme of things. We know, deep down, that beauty like this cannot be the result of random collections of molecules.

Ultimately, I believe we ache because we are caught in cross currents. Beauty is so lovely and yet so ephemeral. Pain is so predictable and raises such unanswerable questions. Daily life is so often tedious and small. We were made for something. We are sure of that, but that something eludes us. The beauty of the present moment pierces us through, then quickly slips from our hand. Our hearts want much--they can be deeply touched--but though they are touched, it never lasts; it is never enough. We carry the burden of eternity in our hearts. Still, it is meant to be a good burden, a burden that will carry us to the heart of God. The very longing, like the drab grayness of the shadows, is a gift to open the gate to rest.

...that's enough for now. more later...