Chapter 31: Longing for a Break in this World

Some days are hard.  Some days are so full of stress and anxiety and fear and heartache that you long to get away. 

Like we did recently.  We went to an all-inclusive resort in a paradise called the Dominican.  It seemed as if we had been put down right in the middle of the Garden of Eden.  Beautiful beach.  Endless buffet of food.  Abundant produce. 

And nothing but fun.  One day my friend Steve and I were assigned the task of reserving some jet skis for the next day.  Through a bit of a language barrier we tried to tell our Dominican friend that we needed two Wave Runners for the four of us.  He had a hard time understanding since he only saw the two of us.

So Steve kept saying, “We have two ‘chicas.’”  Finally he smiled and pointed towards the village and said he could get us two “chicas.”  We didn’t even try to schedule a massage. 

It was a week—and you’ve had them—where stress was left behind.  Despite some translation issues.  No bills to pay.  No deadlines to meet.  Only an opportunity to commune with God, nature and each other.

But then the week ended.  And as soon as we arrived back home you could feel it again.  The things that needed to be done.  The concern about projects.  The relational tensions.  Back to a world where it seemed as if Satan might be winning.  But for a moment we had a tiny taste of what could be.

The Book of Revelation is an authentic taste of what will be.  It is the promise that in the end God wins.  Life may be hard now.  Life may be unfair now.  There may be challenges now.  But in the end, God will demonstrate he is the Victor.

And he will give us a life in Paradise.  And there won’t be language issues.  The Apostle John was given a vision of the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven.  It is an immense place.  Some get caught up in the dimensions outlined in Scripture.  But I believe the purpose we are told of the size of heaven is to give us the assurance that there is room for everyone. 

“All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).  The end will be much like the beginning.  The God who shaped Eden out of chaos will take the chaos of our world and shape it into something new.  A New Heaven and a New Earth.

So call on his name and make your reservation.  It’s all inclusive.