City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Luke 6:21b (ESV)

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1

Reflection

“Blessed are those who weep now.”

There are a couple different ways you can look at this phrase. The first is that you are weeping because of the hardships of life and all the pain that this life has to offer. Nothing in this life lasts and we will all experience death and sorrow at some point. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” With death, with disease, with the pain of relationships, there will come weeping. Even Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes that there is a time and season for everything under the sun.

The second type of weeping comes from our understanding of the pain we have caused God by the sins in our life. This is a sorrow that leads to repentance and not the worldly type of sorrow (See 2 Corinthians 7:10). Without the weeping and shedding of tears that leads to our need for a Savior, there is no salvation. If we do not see a need to be saved, then we are not looking at Jesus as a savior. Rend your hearts as Joel says (v. 2:13) and bear in line with repentance. This is a weeping of the heart that is required to accept the blood sacrifice of Jesus that will cover our sins.

In both scenarios, God promises us joy and laughter. In the former interpretation of the passage, our laughter comes from experience heaven. Once we are with God, there will be no sorrow, death, or pain. We will be experiencing God’s presence and joy for all eternity. Hallelujah!

In the latter scenario, our acceptance of Jesus as our savior will bring us joy everlasting. Yes, this world will still bring us many trials and sorrows (John 16:33), but no matter our feelings, we will have a foundation in Jesus, and this joy no one can take away or replace. Our lives will be secured with Him and this frees us and gives us a peace beyond all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

Application

It is through walking this earth that we quickly learn that it isn’t the life we were meant to live. This earth is passing away and we can see this happening in front of our eyes. Nothing lasts forever and our bodies will soon die and return to the ground. Naked we enter the world and naked we return (Job 1:21). Sorrow and weeping may fill our days, but this should never take away the joy in our lives. We are bound with the Holy Spirit and our names are written in the Book of Life. No one, not even Satan, can remove this joy. The laughter and happiness of eternity with God awaits us all.

Prayer

Father in heaven, You have taken away my weeping and pain by the death and resurrection of Jesus. I know we are meant for something greater, for an eternity in Your presence and glory where there will be laughter and no more tears. Help me to always remember this as I experience hardships and trials in this life. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.