This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
No more death or mourning or crying or pain . . . I can’t even begin to imagine what that day will be like.
A quote from the classic movie The Princess Bride comes to mind as I write this.
For context (if you’re unfamiliar with the film):
A woman named Buttercup and a farmhand named Westley fall in love with each other. Westley is poor, so he goes off to seek his fortune across the sea before marrying her. He promises to return because true love never dies. His ship is attacked by a pirate who takes no prisoners. Buttercup is heartbroken but eventually becomes engaged to the prince of the land. One thing leads to another, and she’s captured by rogues who intend on killing her to start a war with another country. She’s rescued by a mysterious masked man in black who claims to be the very pirate who attacked and killed Buttercup’s true love, Westley. The man is actually Westley, wanting to see if she’s moved on or if she still loves him. He appears flippant about this dastardly deed, causing Buttercup to snap, “You mock my pain.” To which he says, “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
There’s some truth to that cynical statement, isn’t there? The sinful world we live in is a world in which death, mourning, crying, and pain are the ugly realities. From our first to final breath, we’ll never know a day that hasn’t been affected in some way by sin and suffering.
There’s more to life than such doleful things, of course, but our existence here is still shaded by the fact that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death in this world.
Our God doesn’t try to tell us that life in this sinful world isn’t painful by flippantly saying that’s just the way things are. Nor does he turn his gaze away from the suffering of his people and pretend it doesn’t exist. He stepped into this sin-darkened world to do something about death, mourning, crying, and pain. He came to destroy death, to utterly defeat the devil, and to rescue us from sin’s shackles. He did so by dying on the cross in our place and rising again from the grave. True Love laid down his life for us and took it back up again.
Death, mourning, crying, and pain may be the reality right now, but our God promises that he will wipe those tears from our eyes. The old order of things will pass away because Christ will come again to make all things new.
That’s the promise we’re holding on to throughout life. No more death or mourning or crying or pain . . . dear Christian, I can’t even begin to imagine what that day will be like.
And I can’t wait to find out.
Today as you pray, ask that God would come quickly to fulfill his promises. In the meantime, while you and all Christians wait, ask that God would strengthen and comfort the hearts of his people through his Word and sacraments, pointing them to their Savior Jesus.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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