It is summertime in Wisconsin. While a drive down any road in rural Dunn County reveals the stunning beauty of its rolling countryside, there is also abundant roadkill. This time of year, young, unaware animals wander from woods and fields to open roadways, where their furry little lives are cut short. The incredible beauty of the season is interrupted by these scattered bodies on the highway as a constant reminder of the grip death has on creatures of the earth.
In the Christian life, sadness and joy are in similar tension. We know there is more to our story than this present life, but the fallen state of things casts a dark shadow. Not only was it never meant to be this way, but it will not always be this way.
Romans 8:19-21 says, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
Jesus provided this glorious freedom when He conquered sin and death on the cross. And because of this, we sing, even amid our present sorrows.
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions, bright and blessed,
He’ll prepare for us a place.
In 14:1-3, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
This place Jesus is preparing for us, His children, is void of the plagues of earth. Revelation 21:1-4 tell us, “He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them. 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.”
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!
In the meantime, there will be sorrows, troubles, and death. But our knowledge and hope in our eternity help us to bear these. We know that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” (Romans 8:18)
These fallen things remind us that there is something better ahead. A place where we will tread roadways of gold, along which there is no hint of death.
withhymn 
Beautifully written (as always). Looking forward to singing this hymn.
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