Two of my friends are retired teachers who spend several months each year in their home country of India volunteering at an Adventist boarding school there. They went this winter as usual, but unlike other years, their homecoming took an unusual turn. Here’s what one of them wrote in a Facebook post yesterday:
“Preparing for the Lord’s return has a very real new meaning for us now. We have been waiting to return to the US. We were supposed leave before the lock down came but my sister was seriously ill and the doctors did not think that she would make it, so we postponed our trip back. I’m glad we stayed to be with her as she is doing better. But when we finally heard from the US Embassy to be prepared- they said they were not sure exactly when, pack only limited baggage, they were not sure exactly where we would land in US, but be prepared. All of a sudden - taking all our baggage was not important, preparing the condo against dust for a year was not that important, where we land was not important, - as long as we get home. Things that were so important don’t matter anymore.”
They go on to say that “When we truly prepare to go to our eternal home, all these earthly things won’t matter but the promises of His return and the joy of arriving there have a deeper meaning that only comes from above and during these difficult times. It is a matter of perspective!”
The Bible has something to say about this in Isaiah 65:17-25 (The Message)
17-25 “Pay close attention now:
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses
and move in.
They’ll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses
and move in.
They’ll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Times like these put things, literally, in proper focus. What once was important fades away when more urgent things consume our thinking. With everything so uncertain today—including our health and safety—it is incumbent on us to keep in mind that earthly things are only temporary, but God’s earth-made-new is eternal. As my friend said, it’s a matter of perspective.
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