I was in Budapest with two friends, about halfway through our two week post-graduation Eastern Europe jamboree. We were arguing, over some coffee, about the schedule for the afternoon. I was really frustrated and felt left out of the conversation. Not only did I feel annoyed and slighted, but I was also hot, sore, and hungry. To add to my already sour mood, our server at the café was a jerk. Before I could hand him the money for our bill, he snatched it from my fingers impatiently and stomped off. None of this sounds particularly earth-rattling, but nevertheless, I was fuming. The sum of it all- the heat, the hunger, the aches, the arguing, the pushy server- had steam coming out my ears.

There was a church we wanted to see right across the street, so we left the café and walked over. I was seething when I walked up, but something happened inside. As soon as we entered through the doorway and under the vaulted ceiling, a group of nondescript tourists with fanny packs and cameras assembled at the front of the church and broke into song. They sang a Hungarian hymn, and as their voices rose and fell and swelled again for a final “Amen,” I found myself weeping in one of the pews. As quickly as they had assembled, the group dispersed and exited the church.

The performance did not seem premeditated, which made it all the more beautiful. I sat revitalized, overcome by grace, my fatigue and frustrations checked at the door. It was awesome. I had walked in the church feeling the brokenness of the world so evident in my own bitter frustration, and yet the sound of the hymn reminded me that God is in the business of making it right. In the midst of pain and suffering and toil and war, Christ is redeeming and restoring the world.

My youngest sister got her braces two days ago. The orthodontist told her that she should expect to have a metal-mouth for at least two years, but probably three. She might also need to have a jaw surgery and gum surgery. That stinks. When she came home, her teeth were already so tender and sore she couldn’t chew her dinner. Ultimately, though, the braces are fixing what was once a pretty snaggle-toothed smile. It will be painful and it won’t be immediate, or even apparent for a while, but eventually her teeth will be set straight. Hearing the hymn was a taste of the restoration that is already at hand, but like my sister’s teeth, that restoration is not complete.

Romans 8:20-25 addresses the braces issue. The passage describes creation as groaning to be set free from the bondage of the Fall. Our frustration, our selfishness and sense of entitlement are confirmation of this bondage. We can identify it in every one of our relationships. And yet, scripture assures us that the present state of the world is not the final word. Rather, we hope with patience, resting in the promise that Christ is setting things straight.