One of the benefits of a vacation—in my opinion—is that it gives you something to look forward to enjoying in the future. The trials and struggles of today are easier when we know we will escape them on vacation. A difficult job becomes easier to bear when we plan a vacation from it. A chaotic household of kids is easier to withstand when we know we have a weekend getaway planned with adult friends and no kids. Knowing there is a vacation in the future helps us endure the trials of today. That’s true for us that endure suffering on earth now while waiting for heaven in the future.
Malachi tells the faithful followers of God that had been enduring hardship, “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2, NASB).[1]
These verses remind us that earth is not our permanent place. It reminds us that we have something better waiting for us. The text describes “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” The people Malachi was writing to might have felt like they were in a dark world where there was no hope. We too sometimes feel there is no end in sight to the world’s evil and wickedness. But when Christ comes and ushers in the Day of the Lord, it will be like the sun with its sunrays shooting out appearing as “wings.” The image here is one of a dark cloudy day when the clouds break and you see some light shining through as a strong straight line. These are the “wings” of sunlight that God brings.
The text also describes “and you will go forth and skip about like calves from a stall.” In other words, we will be free! We will be released from the bondage of this world where bad things happen to innocent people because of the Fall, because of the role of Satan in our world, because of the mistakes others make, and because of the mistakes we make.
At a future time God’s people will be spiritually renewed and restored. This will be as clear as bright sunshine in a dark sky and like animals freed from their restrictive stalls.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.