Is the Grass Really Greener on the Other Side

Have you ever found yourself dreaming about what it would be like to trade in your life? Dreaming if only you could be somewhere else? Do something else? Be someone else? I mean, isn’t the grass always greener on the other side?

In last week’s “Follow Me” blog, I shared my response to Jesus’ call. We all hate hearing clichés but honestly there is no other way for me to say this: “the grass is greener on the other side.” I was literally living under a dark cloud. Divorced parents when I was 4 years old, both struggling with addictions, multiple step-parents and abusers, all clouded my reality. At an early age I began to make choices that fit the pattern I’d been raised in and left my days dark and devoid of joy.

Grey skies are going to clear up

The day I accepted the free gift of Salvation, the dark cloud was lifted. I was like a little child, exploring with eyes of wonder the world around me. Vast blue skies—bright moon, sparkling stars and the sun’s warmth on my skin; oh, how I marveled at our Creator.

What I once craved and longed for was replaced with a desire for: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Name the scripture address in the comments below if you know!)

Drinking beer to fall asleep was replaced with an insatiable desire to read the Bible into the wee hours of the morning. I devoured passages, gulping in the knowledge of my Heavenly Father. I hardly could wait for the church doors to open to gather with my new family, the Body of Christ. Old things truly were passing away and all things were becoming new.

God’s ways are so much better than ours.

Tom, my husband, was serving in the Gulf War when I started following Jesus. Life was so different at home, and I wondered how to tell him. In my letters I would drop lines like, “Honey, the kids and I have been going to church.” or “I’ve been reading the Bible and did you know…” All in an effort to prepare him for our new home life.

I had no idea God was calling Tom to follow Him in the middle of a desert while we were miles apart. A soldier in Tom’s unit would often say; “Guys, we have no idea what we’re going to face once we get out there. I’m going to pray and you’re welcome to join me.”

My man is a smart guy and would join his comrade saying, “well it sure can’t hurt anything”. Tom returned safely to us, and that first Sunday we sat on a pew beside each other, thanking God.

I’d like to tell you that we live happily ever after in the greener grass but that wouldn’t be quite true…yet. We still have trials and our fair share of pain and struggles. The difference is, we keep our eyes on our Creator, our focus on His promises and our eternal heavenly home where I imagine the grass will be the greenest of all.

The New Heaven and Earth

“Then 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 I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, 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 21:1-4