And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea....and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.  (Rev. 21:1, 4)

As a child I loved reading stories that ended with the statement, "THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!"  It gave me hope that no matter what happened to me in my life, I would enjoy happiness forever and ever.  Now that I am older, I realize that there are some hardships in life that bring pain and depression.  However the passage above gives us confidence that no matter what we are going through at this time, God has made provision for all of His people to gain the happiness mentioned in the fairy tale endings.

The Book of Revelation was written by John perhaps when he was exiled on the island of Patmos.  It is said that John was probably the only Apostle (of the original Apostles) who died from natural causes.  In the passage above John is describing the revelation of Jesus Christ given to him to communicate to others.  It tells of the climactic end of the world as we know it, but also of a wondrous new heaven and new earth that would come.  This is great news.  God allows us to look beyond our time into eternity as we study His Word.

Every good and perfect thing comes from God.  He gives us life.  He gives us memory to be able to cherish our lives.  He gives us hope for tomorrow.  And although He sometimes allows difficulties to encompass us, He has given us a way out of every problem.  The answer to all of our problems is found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. 

If you are experiencing trouble in your life right now, just take comfort in knowing that trouble won't last always.  God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes; there shall be no more death; there shall no longer be mourning, or crying, or pain.  God will provide a new heaven and a new earth.  The first heaven and the first earth will pass away.

Can you imagine it?  No more bill collectors.  No more broken hearts. No more medications for our high blood pressure, or diabetes, because  we won't have high blood pressure or diabetes.   No more crime statistics etc. etc. etc.

I don't read fairy tales anymore, but I still believe in happy endings.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that because Jesus died for me in payment for my sins, I AM GOING TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!