February 12, 2021 (Friday)
Yesterday’s blog gave us the song, “It Won’t Rain Always,” sung by Janet Paschal. The song assures us that our troubles are not here to stay. They will be gone in due time. Cheer up, my dear friends, and look for the silver lining that promises brighter and happier days.
The music for today reminds us that “we will understand it better by and by.”
When we sit down and think about Heaven, certain questions come to mind, like, “Will we know each other in Heaven?” Jesus’ enemies tried to trick him by posing a hypothetical question about a woman who married seven men in succession: “Whose wife will she be in Heaven?” Jesus’ answer was that we need to adjust our thoughts about Heaven by remembering that Heaven is different from this earthly life in ways that might surprise us. Jesus answered that question by stating that in Heaven we will be like the angels. We will not marry there. But how will that work out for us when we see our loved ones over there? Don’t worry, in Heaven we will know the answer to any questions we may now have.
In Heaven we will have perfect love, perfect joy and perfect peace. Whatever questions we may have about perfection will be answered instantaneously once we arrive on that “distant shore.” I love the song, “Sweet Beulah Land,” written by Squire Parsons, which puts into words many of our feelings: “I’m kinda homesick for a country to which I’ve never been before. No sad goodbyes will there be spoken for time won’t matter anymore. I’m looking now across the river where my faith will end in sight. There’s just a few more days to labor. Then I will take my heavenly flight. Beulah Land, I’m longing for you and some day on thee I’ll stand. There my home shall be eternal. Beulah Land — Sweet Beulah Land.” *
Heaven is a perfect place and the answers to our questions are perfect. We will understand it all perfectly when we all get to Heaven. Hence, the song, “We’ll Understand It Better By and By.”
WE’LL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BY AND BY
Charles Albert Tindley
(1851-1933)
Chorus
By and by, when the morning comes
When the saints of God are gathered home
We’ll tell the story how we’ve overcome
For we’ll understand it better by and by
Verses
Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand
All the ways that God could lead us to that blessèd promised land;
But He guides us with His eye, and we’ll follow till we die
For we’ll understand it better by and by
Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares
And our hearts are made to bleed for a thoughtless word or deed;
And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best
But we’ll understand it better by and by
We are tossed and driv’n on the restless sea of time;
Somber skies and howling tempests oft succeed a bright sunshine;
In that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away
We will understand it better by and by
We are often destitute of the things that life demands
Want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands;
We are trusting in the Lord, and according to God’s Word
We will understand it better by and by
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*Beulah land comes from Isaiah 62:4 – the King James version. The Hebrew word means ‘married.’ The relationship between God and the nation of Israel was often compared to a marriage. Israel was frequently referred to as a bride of God in the Old Testament. This passage was rejoicing that the people of God were returning to Israel after years spent in exile in Babylon. Beulah land wasn’t so much a physical place – though it literally referred to the homeland to which they were returning. Beulah land was the spiritual state of being one enjoyed whenever one found their way back to God.
“Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the Lord delightest in thee, and thy land shall be married.” (Isaiah 62:4, KJV)
The prophet Isaiah is telling the world how the people returned to their religious roots, their homeland and their God. Beulah land is a state of holy bliss. When one is there, Heaven is clearly visible.