It’s Going to be Okay

Me with kitty Rosie

Our little gray kitty cat knows a number of words.

She knows “Outside” and “Food” and her name, “Rosie.” And of course the ubiquitous “Here, kitty, kitty!” She’ll come to that call—at least when she wants to.

Another phrase she seems to understand is, “It’s okay.” We use it often to reassure her in troubling times like strangers visiting, fireworks outside or, worse yet, a bath.

“It’s okay, Rosie,” we’ll say. “It’s okay.”

She’ll stare at us with round eyes, a bit unsure if we know what we’re talking about this time. Can it really be okay with explosions nearby, people in the house who clearly do not smell like family, or this completely absurd notion of spraying water all over her?

But she trusts us. And the phrase does seem to calm her, at least to a degree.

It’s not just for Rosie, either. When things are hard and I’m trying to comfort a human member of my family, I often find myself saying something quite similar:

“It’s going to be okay.”

Not quite the same wording as for Rosie. For often in these circumstances, things really aren’t particularly okay at the moment. And sometimes, I’ve questioned whether this phrase is rather trite and Care-Bear-ish. Shouldn’t I be able to offer something of more substance than that? Sounds like something you’d say to a crying toddler.

And yet, when I’m distressed myself, sometimes those words comfort me more than almost any others.

The truth is, so many things in this world are not okay right now, whether challenges and heartaches in my own little family’s life or crises of hunger and war and suffering the world round.

But God has promised us that someday, they will be okay. To borrow from the musical Les Misérables, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”

And there are even stronger words to cling to:

For the Lord will not reject forever,
For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.

~Lamentations 3:32-33

 

…and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

~Revelation 21:3-4

 

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat…

The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

~Isaiah 11:6, 8-9

And always:

Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

~Psalm 30:5

So that’s why I keep saying, “It’s going to be okay.” Because it will, someday. Maybe not right here, right now. But it will, for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

What is weighing your heart today, friend? Look to Jesus, and His scarred hands and cross. Because of Him, it is going to be okay.