Dear Husband and I had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend with our three oldest adult children and their families.  (The younger three were prevented from joining us by the vicissitudes of life.)  We enjoyed the grandchildren that could be with us.  Watching them interact with each other was precious.  Seeing how they have grown was sobering.  One is nearing twenty years of age, another towers over me, another is maturing by the week. And if the changes in our grandchildren weren’t enough, realizing that our three oldest are now middle-aged certainly made us feel old!  Witnessing the onward march of time before our very eyes made me stop and think.

As we get older we become more and more aware that things are broken.  When we were young we had high hopes for our future; what we could contribute and accomplish to make the world better.  Now toward the end of our lives, we realize that whether or not we contributed or accomplished what we hoped, the world is still broken and so are we.  What should we be looking forward to now?  What is our hope in the middle of the messiness of life? 

Our culture tells us we only go around once and we must use whatever means are necessary to remedy our current problems without thought for an eternal dimension.  The voices shout about changing the behavior, but not about changing the heart.  Yet God tells us that this life is only the precursor to an eternal life.  We must allow God’s Spirit to change our hearts in anticipation of a much better life ahead.  Although the prevailing thought is a shortsighted preoccupation with this present physical existence, the reality is that we are eternal beings.

 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”  Matthew 22:31-32

God has a happy plan for each one of us who trust him.  His plan for us is good right now and it will be even better when he makes us new.  Although we are surrounded by many discouraging circumstances, we don’t need to be discouraged.  We have comfort and hope from God that we have much to do now and much more to look forward to.

“stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope,  comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.”  2 Thessalonians 2:15-17

When we were young we looked forward to the happy changes that growing up would bring; gaining independence, marrying our beloved, maybe having children, and helping the world in some satisfying way.  Now that we’re older we have other happy changes to look forward to; gaining independence from our limitations, being reunited with those we love who have gone before us, and enjoying a new world.  When we were young we were impatient to experience the good things ahead.  We counted the days until we could drive or date or graduate or marry.  Now we also eagerly look forward to the good things ahead.  But we hold steady, doing what we can right now and waiting patiently and confidently for the better world ahead.

“And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. . . .  But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.  Romans 8:23, 25

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  (Isaiah 25:8)

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14)
. . .  thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  1 Corinthians 15:-58

Many of us are missing loved ones who have died.  Maybe this Mother’s Day you were reminded of your own mother who has passed on.  If you are my age, you may have thought about the fact that you’re getting on in years.  This struck home for me when a close friend my age was told by her oncology surgeon that she had ten years to live whether or not she opted for a certain treatment.  I asked if the doctor gave her only ten years because of her cancer or because that is just all any of us can expect.  She replied that it was just the normal life span.  Whoa!  I’m in the same boat as she is!  Ten years doesn’t sound very long.  But on the other hand, how wonderful that I’m fast approaching a much better life!  A life of joy with our God and loved ones in a perfect environment.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.  . .  Then we will be with the Lord forever.  So encourage each other with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:13,18

“God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  Revelation 21:3-5