THIRTY-TWO: Comforted

Sometimes, you just have a really crappy day. For me, this day wasn't all the way crappy, but it started out pretty bad. Where nothing seems right. Nothing is as it should be, though I have no idea how things should be.

I generally have a method for cheering myself up. I haven't used it in a while, but it goes like this:

• Ben & Jerry's Everything but the... Ice Cream
• Lays Original Ruffles with Sour Cream and Leek Dip
• Either Sugar and Spice or  High Fidelity

That used to be the formula. Then it was going for a run. Then it was red wine and Korean dramas. Comfort. All of these things were designed to create a sense of comfort. It soothed away the ills of the day. It encouraged me to feel light. And free.

But there is a source of comfort that is greater than Ben & Jerry's. Better than High Fidelity. Better even than a glass of good Malbec. And that's today's verses.

I kind of wanted to cop out on today's blog. I thought about just posting the verses and letting them speak for themselves. Because it's simply comforting! Beautiful really. I love those moments when the language in the Bible just strikes you as "pretty."

That's today's verse:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 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 21:1-4

You know what's interesting about these verses? Is that everything in them is "new." I generally comfort myself with things that are old and familiar. But the old and familiar won't cut it. Not when it comes to my whole life. Not when it comes to forever. In that realm...I need something new. To have an eternal comfort, I need something that I haven't seen before: 

1. New Heaven and New Earth
2. Behold! (who doesn't love the world "behold?"), God is right there, living next to you. Communing with you. Kicking it with you! 
3. No more death, sadness, crying or pain. Those old things have passed away.

why does heaven look like Oz?

The familiarity of grief, sadness, and disappointment will be replaced by something new. I think that's super exciting. I cried just this morning, so I can appreciate the idea of every tear being wiped from your eyes. That's a new thing. To not have a reason for tears! No more death...when death is so familiar that we're kind of desensitized to it. 24 plane crashes in 15 months...that's what I saw on the news today. And it was horrible. I can't wait for the new day where nothing like that can happen. No more grief. No more crying or pain. Why? 

Because old things are over, and everything is new. 

That's so comforting.