The old order of things, it’s passing…

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  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, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell 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.” 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “IT IS DONE. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Revelation 21:1-7 (emphasis mine)

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed at the sights my eyes take in.  By God’s grace, He’s allowed me to see so much beauty in this city.  I haven’t written often about the darker side of things, but it’s there.  And sometimes it’s more than I can handle.  God’s heart must break daily over sin that leads to destruction when it’s so opposed to what He intended for us.  I imagine there are times when He has to turn His eyes away.  He must weep over what we’ve become.  How could beings made in His image stray so far?  My heart is so burdened by things I’ve seen and heard. 

This week there was a raid on beggars in Bangalore.  These desperate people get tiny babies (from where I don’t want to imagine), drug them so that they don’t cry, and use them to elicit sympathy from anyone who would spare a rupee or two.  The babies don’t look human.  I’ve seen them with my own eyes many times, and they are so small and helpless.  It turns my stomach to see them and think about their future.  The police took 300 babies this past week, and I’m assuming they’re now in orphanages, some likely with permanent physical and emotional damage from what they’ve endured already in their short lives.  Some of the beggars will be taken outside the city and left so that they don’t disturb anyone else.  Others will lay low for a few days and then return to the only thing they know.  Rejected and unwanted. 

On Saturday Brent and I went with friends to hand out food and blankets to homeless people.  We found a man lying in the middle of the road, passed out from a likely alcohol overdose, his lifeless body unseen by those stepping over and around him.  We placed a bag of food and a blanket beside him and walked away, hoping that no one would steal it before he regained consciousness.  Later Brent and I woke a man sleeping under a bridge to give him food and quickly noticed that he couldn’t even open the banana we brought him as all ten fingers were merely nubs, eroded by advancing leprosy.  This isn’t the body God intended for him.  Dirty and unloved.

I saw a dog today whose hours were likely numbered.  Bones protruded from his little sides as he walked by, instinctively searching for something to sustain him a little longer.  His fur was chewed off, I’m assuming from fleas.  Tumors on his body were probably painful and cancerous.    Unnoticed and invisible.

I pass people with no life in their tired, sad eyes.  They offer prayers to statues that are larger than life and utterly incapable of doing anything.  They are a putrid stench to the One true King.

What must our Creator think when He sees these things?  Each of these creatures was crafted by His very own hands.  They were planned with meticulous detail and created in their mother’s womb.  They have a fingerprint unlike any other human on this earth.  He knows how many hairs are on their heads.  And yet they’re broken.  Their bodies are dying and they fail to recognize their worth.  The earth groans as trash piles higher and higher and raw sewage fills the streets.

I’m overwhelmed by it all.  It feels hopeless at times.  And yet God knew all this before He created any of it.  He saw how things would progress over time, and He made us anyway.  He so badly wanted to be in relationship with us that He is willing to be hurt over and over by His precious creations for the chance to spend eternity with those who would choose Him. 

We are all without hope unless we know Him.  But once we do, hope is eternal and shines forth like the sun in brilliant radiance.  It cuts through the gray bleakness, directly to the hearts of those who love Him.  And for those who overcome, He’s promised a new heaven and a new earth.  We won’t see these sights anymore.  There will be no disease, no hurting, no evil, no exhaustion, no sorrow.  We’ll be with Him in an everlasting kingdom that He’s prepared for us. 

Once and for all, it will be done. 

Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

Just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)