A New Order

Revelation 21: 2-4
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 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.”

My week had gone from bad to worse. First, my kitchen was under construction, and was no longer a kitchen but a room with tile adhesive covering the floor, nails strewn about, electrical wires hanging from the walls, and a fine dust that had settled on everything. My dishes were piled in the pantry, the boxes and old dishwasher tray barely balancing on one another. And, my stove sat in the middle of the floor covered in dirt; my microwave on the washing machine. Add to this my 18-month-old who had become obsessed with Daddy’s tools, and it became a very dangerous situation. As the week went on, the City came and turned the water off in our neighborhood for an entire half day without notice, leaving me not only without a kitchen, but without water in my whole house. Then, there were all the little things in between, the three appointments that had somehow been scheduled on this particularly busy week that required coordination for childcare, the milk that went sour long before its expiration, and the fact that I drank the milk. Finally, to top it all off, in the midst of renovation and record temperatures, the a/c decided to quit. It has yet to start up again.

The old me would have given up, cried, yelled, and gotten extremely frustrated by the whole situation. I would have moped and asked God “Why is all this happening now?” But, in reading this passage, and remembering WHOSE I am and that my peace does not stem from my current circumstances, I have been able to take it in stride. Mostly.

Aren’t there days though, when the old person is screaming, “Please, pay attention to me! This situation is awful, let’s have a meltdown! Let’s make everyone around us, including our children and family, miserable!” It is in that time that we must remember these words, “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.” Jesus Christ has already changed the old order of things. We can choose, on a daily basis, to allow Him to make us into the person He wants us to be and remove the old person that’s screaming from inside us. Sure, there are still tears, but He will personally wipe our tears away while we still live on this Earth. If you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances today, remember that we are strangers in this land. One day, we will be with him, and a new order will be set. That is worth smiling about.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, in the midst of my circumstances, help me remember that a new order is coming. Help me point to you each day so that my children will know that it is not our circumstances that dictate our behavior but your Holy Spirit living within us. Help me to see past my circumstances and allow you to make me into the mother you would have me to be, EVERYDAY. In Jesus’ name, Amen.