I’m at Zion National Park near one of the major overlooks. I got up before the sun to come out here and be here when the sun rises. We’re always seeking higher ground, both in hiking and in the Christian life. I kind of wondered why it is that coming out here and seeing a distant view is so satisfying, and I wonder if it might have to do with the idea that God put eternity in our hearts. He put this desire in us to see at a distance. Physically, it’s something we really love, but I think spiritually we are always looking at the horizon. We’re looking at forever. We’re designed to do that. And so this view reminds me that God put eternity in my heart and in yours.
Solomon put it this way: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NKJV). That long view from Zion is a small taste of the forever we were made for.
Years ago I wrote a song on this same idea after spending a day staring at a computer screen a foot from my face. When I went outside and looked at the view, the distant trees and scenery felt like rest for my eyes and my mind, and the phrase popped out of my mouth: “Our eyes are made for distant things.” At first I meant it as a physical observation, but it quickly became a spiritual analogy, and before long I was at the piano shaping it into my theory on why. This song, “The Kingdom Waits,” was the result.
