It was getting toward the end of the day when one of the little girls in my class came over to me, sad. She was missing her mommy. I scooped her up and held her, knowing the feeling. (I have always been very emotionally attached to my mom, and I still get really sad sometimes when she’s not around.)
In an effort to comfort her, I pulled out my impromptu song-writing skills and sang the following:
You’re gonna be okay.
You’re gonna be okay today.
You’re gonna be okay.
You’re gonna be okay today.
It won’t be long
till we’re all home.
You’re gonna be okay.
You’re gonna be okay today.
(Amazing lyrics, right??? J/K 🙂 )
As I sang, something in me changed. I had woken up this morning in a bad mood. First, I was really sad. Then I was frustrated. Then I was anxious. And a gloomy unrest haunted me throughout the day, despite deliberate time in the Word and prayer and singing hymns.
But as I sat there, trying to comfort this girl with a simple, little made-up song, the horrible mood vanished because the words of the song meant something deeper to me.
Every day the kids in my class miss their parents. At school, we learn and have fun, but when someone gets hurt or sick or just homesick, they want Mommy or Daddy. And the best moment of the day is when their parents (or whoever picks them up) comes to take them home. It is the moment that they wait anxiously for throughout the day.
For the little girl who was sad today, I let her know that she was going to be okay because in a little while she would be going home, and all the pain of separation would be over (at least for the day).
For those of us who follow Christ, our situation is similar. We are not with our Father right now. And we miss him. We can enjoy life, but in a fallen world, joy is frequently mixed with sickness and pain and sorrow. And we groan with all of Creation.
But what is our hope?
Our hope is that, at the end of the day, all of our troubles will be over. And we will be at home–with our Father–forever.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. ❤ I Thessalonians 4:17
Gratefully His 