Can you imagine a place where you are never sad? That is exactly what heaven will be. It is hard to imagine because there is so much sorrow in this world, and none of us are exempt from it. Job once said, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). Notice that Job did not say that we experience trouble once in a while; he said that our lives are full of trouble. Any of us who have lived very long at all can testify to the truth of this statement. There is trouble all around us, and such has been the case in almost every stage of our lives.

Why is there so much trouble in life? Is it because God does not care about us? There are many who believe that all the trouble in the world proves there is no God. However, the presence of trouble does not prove any such thing. Sin is the culprit when it comes to the sufferings of this world, and Satan, not God, is responsible for sin. If there was no sin, there would be no suffering. Before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve were in a state of paradise. However, when they sinned, death and disappointment came along too, and man has been suffering ever since. Ultimately, every tear-stained eye is due to the presence of sin in the world. Even the trials that God may bring upon us Himself, to either discipline us (Hebrews 12:5-9) or to strengthen our faith (James 1:2-4), would be unnecessary were it not for the presence of sin in the world, and, again, sin is Satan’s work, not God’s (1 John 3:4-10).

When a drunk driver kills an innocent person, Satan caused that through sin of drunkenness, not God. When children find themselves in broken homes because of divorce, Satan caused that through sin, not God. When you see the constant suffering of those struck by poverty and plagued by disease, it is the result of the unyielding presence of sin in the world, and that is the fault of the devil, not God (1 Peter 5:8, 9). Let us not blame God for things for which He is not responsible. The one responsible for all the sorrow that is in the world is the same one who accosted Eve in the Garden and introduced sin to mankind, and that was the devil.

What we need to always remember is that no matter what we are going through now, no matter how much sorrow is in our lives, it does not compare to the sorrow-free experience we will enjoy in heaven. Paul put it like this:

Romans 8:18 (ESV)
¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

It was this understanding that helped Paul make it through the suffering that he experienced due to persecution. He was whipped by the Jews on five different occasions. Three times he was beaten with rods, and he was even stoned once and left for dead (2 Corinthians 11:24-25). Do you think you had a bad day? Paul had a bad couple of decades, so far as suffering is concerned. How did he keep himself from being overwhelmed with sorrow? He did it by keeping his eyes on heaven. He believed what he taught in Romans 8:18 and it showed by his patient endurance in life. When once reflecting on the sufferings he had to endure, he described them as “this light momentary affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17).  Just before that, he let the brethren at Corinth know that the sufferings he had to endure had not caused him to lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:16). Paul did not lose heart because he knew the sufferings he experienced in this life were transient, while the glory of heaven, a place free from any kind of sorrow, is eternal. This same hope should sustain us when life becomes sorrowful. Let us always keep in mind the fact, as we sometimes sing, that there will be “no tears in heaven, no sorrows given. All will be glory in that land.”

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.