Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. - 1 Corinthians 13:9-10
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘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.” - Revelations 21:1-4
Like Windwalker said, the process itself is not always a joyous one, it's "the first heaven and first earth" fading away, the dream crumbling around us, but the rainbow at the end is the waking up to God. It's the new heaven and the new earth where we walk with God again. I admit to not being enlightened enough to experience that fully but I can feel the veil being torn back, the light breaking through the thinning fabric.