God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain… (Revelation 21:4, KJV)
The days are coming, and in fact are already so close, that the prophecy in Rev. 21:4 above will be fulfilled. God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. John goes further to explain to us what he means: there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. What a life that will be! If there is one word that can sum up all the issues this verse is talking about, it is “suffering”.
Can you imagine living without a trace of suffering? In fact, not every the memory of it? I grew up in the Christian faith, knowing that there is some mysterious and hidden divine purpose in allowing us to suffer in Christianity. In fact, I knew God takes delight in seeing us suffer in certain ways. There is something terribly wrong with this doctrine. I think this is one of the Christian doctrines that has distorted our views of the true nature of God. However, there is an iota of truth in this teaching. Yes, suffering in different ways can be part of God’s plans in our lives here, but that must be understood in context, and never out of it. For example, it was God’s plan or will to make Israel wander in the desert for 40 years, but that was not what He originally intended; neither did He take delight or pleasure in it.
We are living in a broken world, and the truth is that we are all stubborn to different degrees, and there are some things we will not learn or heed without the use of adversity or pain. Jesus did not go to the cross and suffer because God takes some hidden delight or pleasure to see humans suffer for Him. No! Suffering was mandatory to save us from the mess we created for ourselves. Suffering was God’s plan and will to take us from the eternal destruction, but that was not His original plan. Some Christians have distorted this truth and created a God that has delight or takes pleasure in seeing humanity suffer for Him.
The verse above should be sufficient to tell you God’s real heart and purpose for us. In the new world to come, there will be no suffering, not even a memory of it. Before sin entered the world, there was not a trace of suffering. Suffering only exists because of sin. This devotional is too short for me to get into the details of this important truth and I will get to later on our live Bible study sometime soon. However, I want you to remember the Father loves you. He takes no special delight or pleasure in seeing you suffer. Yes, there are times when hardship will be needed to bring you into His perfect will, just as Jesus had to go to the cross for us to be saved. However, even in that, His heart as a Father full of love for His children is panting. I will tell you the Father is looking forward to the day that He will wipe all tears from our eyes and really show us who He really is and erase all our confusion about Him. But until then, He wants you to start enjoying the benefits of His love right now! He takes delight in wiping tears from your eyes as He brings you out of your troubles!
MEDITATE
Can you think of a world where there is not even a thought of suffering, pain, sin, evil etc.? What about a world where there is just enjoyment and pleasure, I mean real pleasure, 24/7 without any hangovers? Think of a world where peace in your heart is perfect, with joy that is overflowing, your body in perfect health without limitations, etc. God has prepared something mind-blowing for us!
APPLY THE WORD
What is your view of God? Has your understanding of suffering, as I mentioned above in my case, distorted your view of God? God wants to wipe away all tears. And the truth is, He wants to wipe away tears from your eyes even here! Believe in His perfect love, even if He is leading through a difficulty.
PRAY
Bless the Lord for wiping all tears from our eyes.
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