in his presence

As a kid, I thought heaven sounded really boring. I didn’t want to sing in a choir all day, or work in a temple. Heaven sounded like an eternal church service, and I wasn’t real fond of those.

I thought of how far off base that childish ignorance was as I read this morning from Revelation 7:13-17: “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes —who are they, and where did they come from?’

“I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’

“And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne

will shelter them with his presence.

‘Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,’

nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne

will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’

‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”’”

In John’s vision, there is this group of people doing exactly what sounded so bad to me as a boy: standing before God’s throne, serving him day and night. But this morning I was struck by how blessed they would feel. 

These people have been through hard, hard times – the great tribulation, it says. They’ve endured bad things and pain and want. They’ve been abused and neglected. Imagine how they looked before they were cleansed, how bedraggled and filthy and unkempt they must have been.

Now, though, they are with God. Nothing bad will ever happen to them again. They can eat and drink, stay out of the heat and cold, and be comforted by God himself if ever they remember what they’ve been through.

Who wouldn’t want that? Life is hard. Even our best relationships can cause us grief, and our worst ones can ruin our days. Health comes and goes, money is sometimes there but often isn’t. People are thoughtless or mean. Every day events remind us that this world just doesn’t care all that much.

But God does, and he promises and end to it all. Who wouldn’t want that?