BRIDETEARS

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4 NIV

No bad stuff, ever again. No tears of pain or grief or fear. No tears of exhaustion or frustration or disappointment.

But what about happy tears, good tears, delicious tears?

We got a new granddaughter this weekend. Not the infant kind. The in-law kind.

Wedding in a barn, performed between rainy showers of blessings. Guys—except for the preacher—in blue jeans and cowboy boots, gals better dressed. Eight-month-old flower girl in a dressed-up wagon pulled by a bigger flower girl. Bride in a standard, floor length wedding gown. (And, no, I didn’t get to see if she had cowboy boots on under there.)

Happy tears, weary tears. The bride couldn’t hold them in. She’s been running on anticipation and emotion for months, for weeks, for these final days of preparation. Then, a wakeful night before the wedding. A tearful mixture of exhaustion and joy.

As the old song tells, “No tears in Heaven fair, no tears, no tears up there.”

But what about good tears, happy tears, delicious tears? Soon, dressed in white, we will walk down the aisle of Heaven at the wedding of the Lamb and His church. Will we be allowed tears of joy when we see the smiling face of our Groom?

Avi, with You a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as a day—but to our finite, time-bound minds, the wait sometimes seems endless. I’ve heard that the best way to kill time is to work it to death. There’s much left to do in these harvest fields. Help us to keep our focus. Help us to be faithful workers until the end. In Your holy name, Amen.