What The Angels See

I so enjoy reading into the book of Revelation.  Especially in times of personal difficulty, or when I contemplate world upheaval, I find a calm that comes through reading this powerful and amazing book.  It provides a hope that is lasting.  It’s a not a hope implying that something “might” take place, but it’s a hope that is full of assurance; a hope that can only come because of the  unshakable promises of God.

Just read the following words found in Revelation 22:1-6, “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  It flowed down the center of the main street.  On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month.  The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything.  For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him.  And they will see His face, and His name will be written on their foreheads.  And there will be no night there — no need for lamps or sun — for the Lord God will shine on them.  And they will reign forever and ever. “

When I listen to the news and hear of world chaos or when I endure personal hardship, a tremendous encouragement comes when I remind myself that, “this world,” as the song says, “is not my home, I’m just a passing through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door and I can’t be at home in this world anymore.”  This song also reminds me of another encouraging passage of Scripture.  It’s found in II Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”  Isn’t that uplifting?  Oh, how positive is God’s Word!  How reassuring that, whatever distasteful situation we find ourselves in, it’s only temporary.  The angels already look on the face of Jesus, living in a place that we can only imagine.  We are promised that one day we also will see the same wonder.

I close with two things my father once said.  I often recall them when I am in the midst of less that hoped for circumstances.  He said, “Every episode that happens to us is just the Lord stirring the cup of life to make Heaven a little bit sweeter.”  The second is this: “The dark things of life take on a new character when we look at them in the light of eternity.”

Oh, yes!