As I've stated before, this blog is often a way for me to write down my thoughts and experiences, keep memories, and obviously share family happenings with loved ones far away. Today, I'm using it as a way to clear my mind. I've been thinking about a certain blog post topic for a while and after yesterday's events I felt it was time to share. I hope you find some hope in my thoughts. It is a long post, you have been warned. ;c)
What does it
mean to “Live for Heaven”? This is a
quote I once heard, and for the longest time I didn’t really put much thought
into it. Yeah, sure, everyone wants to go to heaven someday. If you know Christ and seek his love, then
you will get there right? But then it hit me, I wasn’t really “living” for
Heaven. Not at all. I just wanted to go there- someday. You see, I’m a worrier. I’m a planner. I’m a doer.
I have certain accomplishments that I want to achieve, experiences I
want to have, and things I want to obtain.
I was afraid of death, not because of the “unknown” necessarily (I am
confident in Heaven being real), but because of the “un-done” that I would
leave here on earth, the people I would leave behind. I would not finish raising my children. I would
not get that house that I’ve always dreamed for. I would never be “out of debt”! I wouldn’t
get to tell “that person” about Christ.
At one point in my life, it was that I would never get the opportunity
to play in the Olympics! (Ok, I know that ship has sailed now and no longer
yearn for this! ;c)) I never “lived for
Heaven” because I was always too focused on looking for hope or reason here on
earth! Living for Heaven is a
priority. Simply understanding that the “best
is yet to come”, totally changes your outlook on every situation. Would I like to see my grandkids someday,
absolutely! BUT, understanding that
Heaven is even better than that is such a life altering paradigm. That the “things” in this life aren’t the
true joy that I will one day see. Or the
horror in this life, isn’t the end of happiness. Living for Heaven means making the most out
of every situation. Realizing that life
is SO short. We only have 60-100 years to make a difference for Christ while we are
here on this earth. That is not a lot of
time! Understanding what it means to “live
for Heaven” also changes my outlook on the evil in this world. A while back I was driving home from work and
I heard an author being interviewed on the Christian radio station that we
listen too (unfortunately, I have no idea who it was…). At the time they were discussing the horrible
aftermath of the 2011 Tsunami that hit Japan.
Thousands of men, women, and children had perished in what had to be a
terrifying way. The question came up of
pain and suffering in this world. I’ve
known for a while that one of the biggest stumbling blocks for people coming to
Christ is that pain and suffering exist.
“If there was a loving God, how could he let this happen?” It’s such a hard topic to wrap our tiny minds
around. (In the Bible it explains
several different reasons as to how Christ uses suffering to glorify him, and
his heart breaks with our hurt too, but I won’t go into those here. Ultimately,
sometimes we just have to accept that we just aren’t able to understand…) This author went on to say, that when asked
this question during a “secular” interview, she explained it like this: “…I can’t
fully explain why God allows these things to happen. We do not think the way God does and
thankfully he knows more than we do.
What I do know however, is that the moment those children died, the very
next second they were pulled out of that water by the father himself into the
safety and love of his arms.” What better place to be. Since hearing that, I have tried to think
about Paul’s words in Phillpians 1 “21 For to me,
to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean
fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I
desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you
that I remain in the body.” I thought of this often yesterday. In fact it was the only way I kept myself
from getting physically sick over the whole ordeal. When you become a parent and enjoy the
blessing God gives us here on earth, the things that affect you change. How they affect you, change. I know, without a doubt, where each and every
one of those kids are. They were young,
they got a free ticket to the best place NOT
on earth. Jesus said, “Let the little
children come to me.” They are home. Our prayers of peace are definitely with
those left behind, that will hopefully one day be reunited. Christ WILL overcome.
There is no point in trying to reason or understand evil in this
world. It’s impossible, and it’s never
going away. There is no point in “seeking
revenge” or saying that those evil ones should be tortured. Believe me, they will get their due punishment. There is nothing we can do to make this world
a “better” place. So, live
for Heaven. See this place as
temporary. Enjoy the blessings God gives
us here because he loves us and understand that evil exists. It’s not a kind world. In fact, the battle is raging and the enemy
is getting stronger. That is why we can
only hope that Christ comes back soon.
But, we better get to work. Because,
one way or another, we only have a short while left here on this earth.
I love you all!
