There is a day coming that we can only imagine, oh, we can read about it in the Scriptures, and even realize it as truth, for the Holy Spirit encourages us in this way, but we cannot see it, we cannot experience it, and like Paul, even if the Lord decided to give us just a small glimpse of it, we could not speak of it. (2 Cor. 12:4)
There is a holiness to heaven, a righteousness that we cannot comprehend, an absolute assurance of eternal peace that we are unable to grasp or make real within our minds. It is a promise that has already been kept, if you have the down payment, (Eph. 1:14) the Holy Spirit of God Himself within you, you are assured of an eternal place in the kingdom of God, but that is all we get at the moment, a promise, we get, as it were, no visible or physical proof.
The children of God know and understand suffering, either in the body or in the mind, we yearn to be home, out thoughts are consumed with the truth that our Savior will one day always be “right over there,” but for now, we are to trust, to trust and obey. I marvel at the men of old who actually saw Him, who sat and spoke with Him, Abraham, Moses, Noah, these men never again for the entirety of their lives had one single doubt about the existence of the Most High. Even John, who held Him in his arms as he lowered Him into the water, who looked into His eyes, suffered a moment of doubt. “When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” (Luke 7:20)
As far as we know, our Lord has not shown His face in person to anyone on this planet for over two thousand years now, some have been blessed to entertain angels unaware, (Heb. 13:2) but the physical representation of the Savior is just as invisible to us as the New Jerusalem is, as heaven itself is. This, to put it mildly, puts a great strain on the servants of the Most High, we are told to trust in what we cannot see, what we cannot hold, in One who does not speak audibly to us face to face, we are told to trust. “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
It is oh so much easier to believe in what we can see and touch, it is so easy to hold onto that which has material form, but not so much the Spiritual. In the Spiritual realm, our emotions get in the way, those who have not studied the Word of God can easily be led into a type of despair, for they hold onto the loving Lord, but reject the One who has promised that “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6) Every negative emotion that you have ever experienced, every doubt, every thought that gave pause to the reality of heaven, of the truth of His promises is normal to all of us, we are asked to believe in what we cannot see and in what we cannot prove to the world.
The lost have no idea of the hardship of life that we go through at times, but many of the called do not see it as hardship, we do not relish the valleys, we simply understand that they will not last forever, we do not rejoice in death any more than they do, we simply do not grieve as they do, (1 Thess. 4:13) we know, for a fact, without question, that where our Lord is we will reside forever in, we just can’t prove it. God chose you; He chose you before He made anything to come and live with Him in an eternity of continuous bliss and joy, you are one of the just.
Don’t rebuke the doubts that occur far too often, rejoice in them, knowing that He who waits for you at home has never had one single doubt, He knows for a fact, and one day we will also. Until then, serve well, glorify Him as much as is in you, and keep imagining what it will be like in our forever home. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)
