Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [56] Every Tear

When God says something Twice

One of the finest pieces of practical parenting I ever gained came from James Dobson, an American Christian. He says that parents must learn to distinguish between childish irresponsibility and wilful disobedience. This may seem obvious, but it is easily forgotten by parents.

Especially in public, parents are embarassed by the "misbehaviour" of their children - as read by others. And to save face they may thoughtlessly respond with an automatic rebuke. We've all seen this in shops, cafes and restuarants. Sometimes our hearts have gone out to the little one.

Willful disobedience is the deliberate flouting of known and well established parental guidelines and rules. A child has been taught that throwing a drink onto the floor, all over the carpet, is wrong. Childish irresponsibility is very different. In the process of learning how to drink, how to pick up the cup, the child spills it. There has been no intention to break a rule, it's just that the child is on a learning curve.

James Dobson encourages parents to carefully distinguish between the two: willful disobedience requires a rebuke, but childish irresponsibility requires further instruction. Perhaps the child has just forgotten. Parents often rebuke for both, to the dismay and even anger of the child.

The Lord, our Father in heaven, who is very patient with his children, knows how quickly we forget and so he often repeats his instructions to us in his Word.

He also repeats his promises, because these too, we so easily forget.

When God repeats himself, it is entirely for our benefit. We may repeat ourselves to persuade others that we "really mean it." But God always means what he says, so he never has to repeat for that reason.

When he says something twice, it is for our benefit alone.

Twice in the last book of the Bible God says, about heaven: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:17 & 21:4). That must mean we too easily forget, when we ponder heaven, "that morn shall tearless be."

Tears in Heaven?

I don't know what image this promise conjures up in your mind, but "God will wipe away every tear", summons up the picture of a loving parent with a little one on their knee. Some painful event, perhaps a fall, has just taken place to cause the child to cry, and in response, the parent soothes away the sorrows and wipes away each tear.

Even if the parenting image is not the only one in John's mind, the repeated promise asks a question: How can there be tears in heaven?

Tears are connected to memories.

The Scriptures indicate that heaven will be a place of both continuity and discontinuity: some things will continue on and on, and other things will change. We are made by our pasts, so not to take something of our pasts with us, would be to leave ourselves behind: continuity.  For example, Jesus  will bear Wounds for all eternity. But when Jesus rose from the dead his glorified body had new powers: discontinuity.

It is the continuity, the remembrance of things past - or the possibility of remembering - that could potentially cause tears.

That childhood trauma. That dissapointment. That sin. That failed endeavour. That bitter breakup. That bereavement. The list is long.

What if in the glory of that world to come, such memories came flooding back into our minds? Wouldn't heaven then be marred?

God's Promise

No, says the apostle John, for God will wipe away those tears. Will he do this once, in the first "week" of heaven? Or will he have to do it again and again, each time the memory returns? My own guess, and it is nothing but a guess, is that God will only have to wipe away that tear once.

Perhaps he will explain how it all had to be so. Perhaps he will give us a new perspective - or new information -  that will make sense of the event. An unknown piece of the jig-saw puzzle which helps us to make sudden sense of everything.  Perhaps he will actually remove the memory. Or perhaps the infinite glories of the very first "week" of heaven will so exceed all the memories of this earthly life that by the end of the first "week" our memories are brimming with good things, and so the old memories will naturally recede.

We don't know how he will wipe every tear from our eyes, but he promises to do it.

Every Tear

The word "every" translates the Greek "pan" which means all, absolutely every one. So effective will God's comfort be that not a single tear will remain on our cheeks. That is amazing, is it not?

Richard Wurmbrand's years in solitary confinement permanently changed him. He was never the same again. For one thing he could not sleep for more than an hour. For another, he could not stand to be alone.

Those tears will be wiped away. And so will yours.

In glory, not one sad event, not one sad memory will mar our ecstatic joy.  We have no idea how it can be, but we are promised that it shall be so. Heaven will be a place of unending and solitary joy.

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory

Summing it all Up

Perhaps you cannot imagine how That Tear will ever be wiped away. This one, yes, but That One, no. Promises are for trusting. We must ask for more faith to believe that what God says is true.

God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

A SONG FOR THE DAY
I've chosen a modern reworking of that older song quoted above. It is a joy to see old songs brought to life with new tunes and added words. Unlike Scripture which we cannot change, old songs are not inspired and so we can alter them as we please.

One day You'll make everything new, Jesus
One day You will bind every wound
The former things shall all pass away
No more tears

One day You'll make sense of it all, Jesus
One day every question resolved
Every anxious thought left behind
No more fear

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory

One day we will see face to face, Jesus
Is there a greater vision of grace
And in a moment, we shall be changed
On that day

And one day we'll be free, free indeed, Jesus
One day all this struggle will cease
And we will see Your glory revealed
On that day

And when we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
Yes, when we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
And when we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory

Oh one day, one day

Yes, one day we will see face to face, Jesus
Is there a greater vision of grace?
And in a moment, we shall be changed
Yes, in a moment, we shall be changed
In a moment, we shall be changed
On that day

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
We'll sing and shout the victory

No more shame, no more struggle,

No more walking through the valley of the shadow
No cancer, no depression

No unanwered questions, no more searching

For we will see Your glory

We will see the glory of your face

We will see your glory

One day

 

Matt Redman

You can hear it HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our gracious Father in heaven,

We thank you for your many promises. And we thank you that you keep every one of them.

We thank you for the promise of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We thank you for the promise that you will wipe every tear from our eyes. So we can look forward to heaven knowing that the sorrows we have faced in this world will not trouble us in the world to come.

Thank you that you have told us this, so that our joyful anticipation of heaven is not marred with doubts.

We worship you

In Jesus Name

Amen

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash