For the past few weeks I have been feeling such great unrest: the kind that feels like an emptiness to be filled, a hunger to be satisfied, or a thirst to be quenched. I have been mulling over what the source of this nagging feeling could be and in church this week I finally understood exactly what it is. Eternity has been calling out to me.

Yes, I know this seems like a very odd phrasing but bear with me for a few minutes and I will explain. Over the last little while, I have been longing for the presence of God more than ever, I have been hungry for times of intense worship and prayer, and for good fellowship with others. Every time I hear a good sermon, I am left with this longing for more of God and his Word. At night when I lay down to sleep, I dream of loved ones who have exchanged their mortal shells for immortal ones and I yearn for their company again. Its been unnerving because I have all that I need and yet I feel like there is something lacking.

Today, in church, I was reminded of a scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes 3 and then it all made sense. Lets read together:

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT [Emphasis added]

Finally, today I have been able to put words to the void I am feeling. It is the call of eternity: a reminder that there is something beyond the everyday grind of life. The passage in Ecclesiastes reminds us that God has placed eternity in the heart of everyone. Day in and day out, eternity calls out to us. Some feel this as a sense of urgency; some describe it as feeling of a larger purpose to life; others might describe it as a feeling of transcendence.

When ever anyone talks of eternity, we naturally think of death and immortality. And while that is not wrong, there is more to eternity than just living forever after death. Eternity is not simply a construct of time, which is why even though we all have a sense of eternity we cannot fully grasp it as Ecclesiastes 3 tells us. Eternity is wrapped up in the very nature and character of God who is Himself the beginning and the end (Revelations 1:8); the One who existed before time began. The call of eternity is not as much about time as it is a call to relationship with a God who created us for solely that purpose: to be in relationship with Him. John 17:3 tells us what eternal life is:

Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

John 17:3 BSB [Emphasis added]

Eternal life is about having a personal relationship with a God and this begins right here on earth. Relationship between God and humankind has been severed and broken by sin. As Ecclesiastes 7:29 so aptly states, “…God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path” (NLT). And that feeling I have just described, that call of eternity, is the beacon that calls us to turn away from our downward path and find our way back into fellowship with God. It signals to us that there is something missing in our lives.

Unfortunately, we live in such a broken and perverse world which has responds to the call of eternity with the mantra YOLO! The world screams, “you only live once!” “you have just one life to live so make it count!” And while I do not disagree with the premise, our secular world does not offer a thirsty or hungry soul any more than a fear of missing out (FOMO). Instead of seeing the void in our hearts as a God-sized void, we are encouraged to pursue adrenaline-pumping activities as a response to eternity’s call. Afterall, YOLO! The world pursues knowledge and understanding in the form of scientific discoveries to make sense of and give purpose and meaning to life. But you see, this also does not answer eternity’s call because scripture is clear: “…the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). This scripture underscores the importance of knowing God personally and intimately as the path to true understanding.

Generation after generation, God has patiently waited for humankind to come back to Him and He has even helped us along with a beacon – eternity in our hearts – so we can find our way home. For me, I feel eternity in my heart as a longing for more of God. What about you? Do you hear the call of eternity in your heart?

Over the next few weeks I will be exploring how I am responding to the call of eternity as I journey with a few friends through the book of Revelations. Stay tuned for more.

Yours Truly.