When things start to go horribly wrong and our world falls apart, there are few comforts more needed than the embrace of a friend or a loved one. We cherish moments when someone close to us wipes our tears and tells us "I love you. I'm here for you." We need someone to stand by us, and long for beauty to come from brokenness.
In the God who made us and loves us, we find the answer to all our needs and all our wants. People may fail, hurt, kill, destroy; people may fail to comfort and cause deeper pain, but God never fails. Though the world went horribly wrong, God always foresaw this and always planned to bring beauty and joy out of despair. His definitive rejection of all pain, and His promise to renew everything was guaranteed by a decisive moment in history: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
When Jesus went to the Cross, the third Person of the Trinity--the Holy Spirit--took the evils of the world and placed them onto Jesus. Somehow, Jesus experienced every bit of pain, every bit of suffering, and every bit of evil without Himself committing evil. In the death of this Jesus, all evil was condemned and crushed. Not only did Jesus die for the sins of the world, but He also rose from the dead so that all those who trust Him and yield their lives to Him. How in the world that does work?
Mysteriously, the Holy Spirit creates a link between all those who trust in Jesus, and Jesus Himself. He "unites" them with Jesus, so that His good works counts as their good works, His death is counts as theirs, and His resurrection renews them. They become people controlled by God's love, and though they fail at times to live in a way that reflects God's love, they are forever forgiven of every wrong doing they've done. And--get this--God promises to raise them from the dead through Jesus' resurrection!
In fact, God promises to rescue this broken creation and restore it. He will abolish sickness, suffering, disease, pain, and death, and will live with us in renewed, glorified bodies. And the best part is that God promises to dwell with His people and wipe their tears. He will liberate this creation from its brokenness, and make it new. He fulfills our need for love in the midst of pain, and our longing for restoration and healing.
Sounds too good to be true, right? I mean it all sounds really nice. But can we honestly believe that there's an answer to our longing for renewal, lasting joy, and our desire for suffering's end? Well, CS Lewis once said, “A man's physical hunger does not prove that man will get any bread...but surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way, though I do not believe (I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will.”
Perhaps our longings for purpose, joy, life, and lasting love have an answer. Perhaps suffering isn't a permanent part of our story, but only a chapter preparing the way for a resolution of eternal delight. And perhaps the "happily ever afters" that resonate with us in the stories we read are whispers of a God inviting you to know Him.
We believe that there are good reasons to think it's true. "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) When you open the door, you will find a God who came to rescue you with arms open wide.