I'm Going to Heaven

Maybe it was growing up in the church.
Maybe it's my shortsightedness.
Maybe it just really hasn't registered.

Whatever the cause may be, the fact that I'm going to heaven has only recently started to sink in.

For the first time ever I observed Lent. Intentionally sacrificing for Jesus has helped me prepare for Easter and has kept Christ's death and resurrection closer to the front of my mind. I've chosen to give up music and movies as background noise, thus surrounding myself with greater silence and opportunities for prayer. Though I haven't prayed nearly as much as I hoped it has afforded more time to meditate on what Christ accomplished on the cross and what that means for me, both now and in eternity.

I'm in a Bible study going through Ann Graham Lotz's Pursuing More of Jesus. In the study we're focusing on the chapter's about the time Jesus spent in the Upper Room with His disciples the night before His crucifixion. As I studied John 14:1-9, the passage where Jesus tells his disciple's that he is going to prepare a room for them and He is the Way, Truth and Life, it began to dawn on me that all the troubles I face, all the uncertainty of this life, all the heartache, doesn't really matter. Jesus has gone to prepare a room in heaven for me.

I get so wrapped up in the troubles of the moment. It's all I can think about sometimes. I worry, fret and wonder how on earth it's going to work out. But as soon as the trouble passes, I completely forget about it. I just happily move on until the next thing pops up (which is usually within half an hour). One would think that after enough little, insignificant worries have come and gone like the wind I would not allow them to sway me like a strong gale. But every time I allow the things of this world to move me to disbelief and doubt. 'How can God work this one out?' 'This is more than I can bear'. Despite all my shortcomings, despite all my petty whining, God works through each situation. While this shows God's faithfulness in spite of my weakness and His love for me, I think up to this point I've missed out on a huge lesson: None of this matters because I'm going to heaven.

It's Easter and what better time to think on what Jesus did to make heaven available to me. Because He was the perfect sacrifice for my sins, He opened the way to heaven and paved the way for the Holy Spirit to live in me. My favorite thing about being a Christian is not the hope of eternal life with God but going though life with Jesus. To have the Holy Spirit inside me as I go through difficult times, to have His peace, to glimpse the completeness God created me for. As a child heaven was my reason for accepting Christ but as I've grown I have chosen to continue following God because I couldn't go through life without Him. Even if heaven turns out to be false, I still want God now. My goal is to follow Jesus throughout my life.

However, as I'm beginning to see, heaven needs to be a goal, too. Not only so I can anxiously await the day I will find wholeness as I worship God and stand before His thrown, but also to keep this life in perspective. Even if we never have financial security, I'm going to heaven. Even if Nemes never lives with us again, I'm going to heaven. Even if I don't accomplish anything the world deems worthwhile, I'm going to heaven.

This isn't to say that everything that happens on earth is inconsequential because paradise awaits those who believe. Much of what we do, the relationships we invest in, the decisions we make, the actions we do and don't take have eternal significance. We are called to lives of work so our lives can bring others, and ourselves, closer to Jesus. But what it does say is that we are to take the difficult times in stride because we know it will pass. God is in control and He is bringing us closer to him. When we look at our current situation in light of eternity with God, it pales in comparison no matter how big or small it may be.

As I strive to live a life that brings glory to God I take comfort in the love, grace and peace He offers me right now and the hope that one day He will welcome me into the room He has prepared just for me.