The "T" in Tissues

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  Rev. 21:4 

I was talking with my young son earlier today.  He has a few little habits he wants to break, such as biting his finger nails.  He calls them his "Issues."   In talking with him, the Holy Spirit reminded me of our Lord's understanding and compassion with us..He knows that we have this treasure of salvation in earthen vessels.  We're leaky, vulnerable, and sometimes weakened from the struggles in life.  Then it "hit me."   "Add a 't' to the word 'issue'!"   So I just continued in my conversation with him, "Son, we have a Savior Who understands the 'issues' we are dealing with. . .and He knows that sometimes these 'issues' can even be painful for us to wrestle with.  But always remember the cross...it's in the shape of the letter 't.'   Add a T to the word 'issue' and we've got "tissue."   Just like grabbing a good, soft tissue to absorbs our tears, remembering the suffering and anguish our Savior went through for US, in order to not only give us LIFE Eternal one day, but also Abundant (VICTORIOUS) LIFE while on earth, our spirit should feel as if someone handed us a tissue to wipe away our tears."   

One day, ONE glorious day, He WILL wipe away all of our tears.  No more suffering!  No more struggling with this old fleshly nature!  No more battles with the enemy!  No more good-byes and parting from our loved ones!   The Lord will wipe away our tears, all of them, once and for all!  And it is only because of what He did for us on that 't' shaped cross on Calvary!   That's the last tissue we'll ever need!  The greatest comfort to my heart is to know that my Savior will wipe away my tears, once and for all!   The touch of His hand will surely be far greater than any tissue ever made on earth!

Oh Father!  Thank You for these "issues" we are going through, even the little bad habits.  Thank you for the opportunity to come to You with our "issues."   Thank You for allowing me the privilege of talking with my son, and for You giving me this tidbit of insight into what You have done for us, and what You WILL DO for us one glorious day!  May each and every dear reader today, who may be in need of a tissue even now, find comfort in the fact that the very suffering Your precious Son went through on the cross of Calvary has given us the victory over all our issues...over bad habits, battling our flesh, battling our enemy, even victory over death!  Your Precious Son will one day wipe away all our tears!  Thank You, Father, Sweet Son, and dear Holy Spirit!  The Triune God!  In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen.

Trading Sisters

This is my sister and I on New Year's Eve, 1995.

"A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."  Isaiah 53:3

Have you read the book "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard?   It's the story of Much-Afraid on a journey away from her fearful family into the Shepherd's "High Places."  She's given two companions along the way.  They are Sorrow and Suffering.  At first they are dreadful to look upon!  Indeed, how many times do we cower in fear in the face of Sorrow and Suffering?   Naturally, no one wants to take the hands of these two sisters, Sorrow and Suffering.   At first, the grasp of their hands is excruciating.

As a child of God, I've been on a journey too.  This journey has had its share of ups and downs, but it wasn't until 1997 that I was first introduced to Sorrow and Suffering.  At the time I did not realize that Sorrow and Suffering were to be my new sisters.  But you see, God did.  When He suddenly took my 22 year old sister, Sherri, home to be with Him, He replaced her with two more sisters:  Sorrow and Suffering.  They've been with me ever since.  Sherri's loss came without any warning; we couldn't prepare. . .it just happened, but in my eyes, it seemed like "it SHOULDN'T have happened!"   Even though I still don't have the answers as to "why," the Lord has been faithful to reveal some good that has happened as a result of her untimely death. 

Every year, as the anniversary of her passing would come around, I'd take "the good that came from her loss" which He had begun to reveal to me and mentally place that "good" on an imaginary scale.  Then I'd place the grief of losing my sister on the other side.   For many years Sorrow and Suffering would tip the scales...The grief from losing Sherri far outweighed any good that God had brought from her loss.

Like clockwork, another year would roll by, and still, the good never outweighed the bad.  But deep down, a tiny glimmer of faith that He would bring more good out of this devastating loss kept me hanging on to hope.  "My child, this too shall be worked out for thy good and My glory, if you allow Me to." (Rom. 8:28)