I sit here this afternoon contemplating the tragedies that seem to have come front and center in my little world…tragedies involving people I don’t know, people I haven’t met, but yet, people for whom I feel anguish in my soul. There are parents who have just lost their children in a terrible accident. There are classmates and friends who are deeply hurting with grief and lack of answers. There is a young mother who lives next to my daughter, battling for her life fighting cancer. Countless prayers are being offered for her husband, children, and students who are still in shock. Then today, I get an email about a 3 ½ year old boy in Oklahoma, who suddenly became ill, and after a few days in the hospital, has gone to be with the Lord. Tragedies and life threatening battles can’t help but turn our hearts toward our own mortality. So, I sit now and try to find a place of comfort that I am inadequate to find in all of this heart ache.
I cannot remember when I first believed in heaven. I suppose all of us who believe in heaven, have preconceived ideas of what it is like. I remember talking to my mother about heaven before she died. As godly a woman as she was, she couldn’t comprehend it, yet she trusted that she would see many again who had gone before her, and those of us who would follow behind. She also believed she would see Jesus. That was the most exciting knowledge she could have. It was something to look forward to with anticipation! I have heard many tell stories of facing near death situations when they saw Jesus and angels in their room. Some might say they were hallucinations, or figments of their medicated imagination, but, I have yet to hear anyone call them anything but comforting. And, I know that for sure, even though my mother didn’t want to leave this earth, the more her aging body failed her,… the more she looked forward to going “home.”
Jesus tells us in John 14:1-4, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
I just read a story of a family whose five-year-old son was hit by a school bus. They were heartbroken because they could not go with him as they wheeled him into the hospital elevator to take him to surgery. They spoke how from the moment he’d been hit in front of their house, he hadn’t said anything. He just laid limp, and in shock in the emergency room as they waited for the doctors to assess the damage to his tiny body. His mother bent down to kiss his little head as the doors opened, and he looked up sleepily,… his blue eyes shown as he looked into his mother’s, then he said “Don’t worry, mommy; Jesus is with me.” He didn’t say, Jesus would be with him. He said, “Jesus IS….”
So, now I think about life after death. And, as I wonder what happens as we pass through the threshold of this life to the next, my comfort comes from Jesus, himself, who told us “do not let your hearts be troubled.” He is preparing a place for those who trust in Him. He will come get us when our time on this earth is over. All we who are left on this earth have, is our sweet memories, and our hope in heaven, waiting for the day we are reunited. This knowledge gives me joy I cannot explain. I pray it will give comfort to those who are hurting as well.
Lord, give peace to those who find themselves wondering about the end of this life. Let them be comforted that soon they will see You face to face. Thank you for the promise that we who know You, will meet again someday to spend an eternity in Your presence and glory. Amen.
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