No More Night

Music and Lyrics: Walt Harrah

"No more night, no more pain, no more tears, never crying again." This very moving song paints a picture of Christ's second coming and the peace and assurance that we as Christians can know on that day.

Read Revelation 21.

Moving day. Now there's a phrase that can strike terror into the heart of the most sane and organized person. Thinking back on all the moves I have encountered in my life, I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that moving can encompass the entire spectrum of life condensed into a few short, intense weeks or months. There are the physical, tangible headaches: the househunting, the selling/buying process, the packing, perhaps the traveling from one location to another. There are the mental headaches: have you remembered to cut off this and set up that, take this or leave that, worrying if the old house will sell in time, if you will find just the right new one and trying oh so hard to be patient and non-judgmental when you watch a helpful friend drop your favorite lamp two feet short of the truck. And then there are the emotional headaches: telling friends and family you are moving on and grieving over the new voids in your life, wondering if you will ever find such friends again, and moods that can be as black as night. Yes, it's all there: excitement, adventure, pain, grieving, highs, lows — some of the best but probably most of the worst of life.

However, there is one move that I am anticipating with eagerness. John 14:2 says, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." God, knowing that Jesus would be going before us to prepare a place for us to live, chose with great care the occupational training Jesus needed — that of being an earthly carpenter. He was preparing for everything.

Can you imagine how smooth this move is going to be? Jesus is hand picking my new location, acting as general contractor to build my new house, and He is coming to get me, acting as my mover. I don't have to prepare — nothing to sell, nothing to buy, nothing to pack. I just have to go. And let's not forget about when we get there. Look at the home specs on what Jesus has been preparing! Not only that, there will be no voids to fill, no grieving, no pain or frustration, and no electric bills. Revelation 21:23 tells us that the glory of the Lord will illuminate the city, and it will be so bright that the nations below will walk by its light. This light will be bright enough to dispel the physical night of the world and the spiritual night created by sin.

But the Lord does not limit His preparation for us to our eternal housing. The Lord prepares a place for us that is as close as our heart or three feet in front of us or ten miles down the road. He prepares us to accept salvation and His rightful place in our life. He smooths our path, so we may not stumble. He prepares us — training us to new tasks and greater things. He prepares our hearts and minds into conformity with Him so that when we make the move to live in our new home in the New City, we will be without pain, without night, without tears, and able to completely absorb and reflect the brilliant glory-light of our great God.

Food for Thought:

Read Proverbs 4:18. What does this verse tell you about walking the righteous path that Jesus prepares?

From Revelation 21:2 and 9, what does God consider His New Jerusalem to be? What connections can you make between this and His Church?

What circumstances and situations in your life do you think may be training and preparation for heavenly work?

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