He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
“Look at the clock!” In my household, that was the universal signal that it was 9:17 PM. September 17th was my parents’ anniversary and at some point, that became a beautiful tribute to a very special day in the lives of my Dad, Mom, sister, and I.
Unfortunately, after my Dad’s passing in 2006, I haven’t heard those words said again, but I always think about it whenever I happen to catch 9:17 on the clock. In fact, when I was going back and forth on whether to write this verse app, I came upstairs for a cup of coffee and the clock on the stove just happened to be sitting on 9:17. I couldn’t help but smile – it was one of those gentle leadings I get from the Lord from time to time, and so I went back downstairs and finally decided to put pen to paper.
Although 9:17 can bring a smile, it can also bring a lot of sadness as I think of my Mom being without her husband now for over 16 years, and our immediate family missing a critical 25% of our family unit that's been so strong for so many years.
In truth, there is just a permanent void that will never be filled on this side of eternity. But with that, there is also an eager anticipation of life on the other side, when the Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. And if there are clocks in heaven, maybe I’ll hear “Look at the clock!” at 9:17 on a regular basis once again. :)