Distant from God...

As I was praying through the Lord's prayer yesterday I was pierced by a reality in the first line of the prayer. 

"OUR Father IN Heaven.." 

 The first part is oh so comforting and encouraging! God is our Dad! Wow, what an amazing truth that is hard to believe that God would adopt us as His kids.

But what struck me was the 2nd part of it, 
"IN Heaven!" 

Ouch.. That hurts! Or at least, it should hurt. Our beloved Father is IN HEAVEN! Which means He is not here on earth... 

This starts the Lord's prayer with comfort that God is our Dad, but pain because He is not here. 

Now I understand that God is everywhere, but that's not what I'm talking about. This is part of the fall. God used to walk with us among the garden and earth was His dwelling place. But after our rebellion, it caused a separation. And although the Spirit of God is in us, the fullness of His presence will not be known until Christ returns and reigns bodily on this restored earth. 

So although we have Him with us partialy it is just a sample. 
I want the main course! 

So next time your pray the Lord's prayer, may it pain your heart. May you cry out with all your heart, "Your kingdom come, your will be done!" 

May there be a longing for when we will no longer say, "In heaven," but 

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." - Revelation 21:3 

Amen (let it be)! Come Lord Jesus!