We have been studying the book of Revelation in the Bible for the past several weeks at our church. While studying chapter 21, our pastor challenged us to write a paragraph on “why you want to be a part of what we see” in Rev. 21:1-5.
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new....” (Rev. 21:1-5)
Because I have thought a lot about this passage for the past several months, I quickly wrote the paragraph which follows:
I can't wait to be a part of what John saw! It will happen just as he said, and I will know fully what I only see in part about this passage and about all of life. I love letting John's words transport me with hope to this time and place. Knowing this passage is real gives me hope to face the next day.
As I mulled over this passage and the following verses, I decided I had more to say, so I wrote the following essay:
“Why I Want to Be a Part of What We See in Revelation 21”
“It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” As the words of this old hymn say, we need a reason for why we put up with all we go through here on earth. Just today I heard a radio broadcast with a Christian dad whose fifteen year old daughter had to have her leg amputated. Understandably, this event caused him a great deal of grief and despair. His summary after three years was that he had to choose either despair or faith in a God who is infinitely bigger than we can understand.
There is no middle ground when faced with extreme circumstances that forever alter life as we know it. We each have a choice: despair or faith in God, faith in a God who may not seem to have kept his promises, or seem to have made good choices though we trusted Him, or seem to care about us as His children.
I have spent the past 21 months since the death of our son trying to figure out how to trust this very big God who says He does all things for my good. I have always believed He is sovereign and that He is good, but when it all boiled down to my own life, He had never tested me like this. Every day I have been faced with despair or trust. I wish I could say I chose to trust and that was the end of it, but because of grief, emotional pain, and uncertainties of the future, it seems I have to keep choosing again and again, each and every day, to trust Him.
Here is why I want to be a part of what we see in Revelation 21-- because it is TRUE! When choosing despair or faith and trust, the one piece that has an overriding factor is TRUTH. These words are true! God has a bigger plan than we can see, and these events will happen just as He describes!
I have memorized Revelation 21:1-8 and meditated on these verses over and over because I have to know that God really is that big! If He truly is that big, and completely sovereign, and 100% good, and overwhelmingly full of love for me, then the truth makes the choice for me of faith vs. despair.
I can make it through the moment, and the hour, and the day, regardless of the pain, because I know my God is just about to make all things new. When I hear, “...the former things have passed away,” and then God says, “Behold, I make all things new,” I will be there to witness it with my own eyes just as He said it would be. I will worship and know that my God was certainly, in every way, worthy of more praise than I knew how to give Him. It will truly be worth it all, and we will have only just begun....
Barbara Watson
March 29, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment