He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 25: 8
This life gives us plenty of reason to cry. We all face suffering and loss on a too regular basis. We also know with the certainty of the ages that our own days are short and are growing continually shorter. As we go through life it seems that God has created in us a paradox. For we are made to live in relationship with others and to seek out and find Godly purpose; yet, the length of our lives and the continuation of our relationships are fragile and often fleeting conditions. Yes, living in this world does give us reason to cry.
So, when we do shed those tears, we are not left alone. Christ has suffered the same losses that we are encountering, and He has also endured the pains of death that wrench our hearts and weary our minds. He is neither distant nor disinterested in our personal grief. Instead, Christ steps into our times of pain and grants us peace in the moment and understanding of eternity for tomorrow’s sake. In fact, it is in these darkest and most trying of times that God often seems most real and close at hand. He knows our sorrow, and He comforts our sorrowing.
Still, there is more. God has made a commitment to all of His creation. He will set it all right again. There will be a time to come when all that is broken, so all that is dying and death, will be done away with forever. This is the day when evil is destroyed and when this world will be replaced by one that is no longer sickened by the disease of sin. Until that day, all of us who know God will end this life by entering into the presence of Christ where we will live in the perfect peace and joy of our Lord’s unending embrace. Every tear that has ever coursed across our cheeks will be removed and the brokenness of our bodies and our hearts will be no more. For in Christ, there is eternal joy at the end of this journey.