How Real Is Heaven To You?

Around March of 2002 I felt called to go on a mission trip to China. I was going by myself. My family was concerned for my safety. I think some wondered if they would ever see me again...

I had a peace about going... most don't know this, but I planned my entire funeral down to the smallest detail before going... I was ready for whatever the Lord had for me.

I went to China in October 2003. In the months leading up to my trip I was preparing... reading books on what to expect, saving money, buying necessary supplies, getting all the required shots... I was going through the motions preparing for my trip. It wasn't until I bought my ticket 6 weeks before I left that it became real. I wasn't real confident I was up for the trip, and yet I kept walking forward, confident in the One who called me to go.

I would guess that almost every family member and many friends of mine thought I was crazy to go on that trip before I left. I would also guess that the majority of my family and friends thought it was the best thing I ever did once I got home.

Preparing for that trip gave me a love for the persecuted church, and love for the lost. Everyday I became more and more aware of where I was going... and why I was going.

In the last few years and in particular this last month, I have become more and more aware of a trip I will be making someday... a trip we will all make, our trip home. This earth is quickly losing its appeal. Like the hollow chocolate Easter bunny that looks so good and quickly disappoints, or the shiny gold bracelet that soon tarnishes, this world has lost its appeal. I am more and more aware everyday that this world is temporary and I long to be home with my Father.

I don't fear death. There is a world where there is no pain, sorrow, sadness, sin, or evil. A perfect world... I am supposed to be dissatisfied with this world. It is a shallow, empty imitation of what awaits us. Oh Rejoice!!! This isn't all there is! Paradise awaits us!

When the trials come, it is just a reminder there is something better waiting for us.

Here are some excerpts from Romans 8 in various translations that bring me great comfort...

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later...with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay... for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.

We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us... And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose...

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?...Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death...

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us... And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!