Reason #596
I heard this man's testimony on the radio today. He is 28 years old and in the final stages of testicular cancer. He has been battling the cancer for quite a few years. He's been through surgery after surgery and undergone a lot of treatments. And so his body, for some reason or another, has not been able to maintain a cancer-free status and now it has spread to multiple places. I listened to him talk and I didn't hear an ounce of anger or depression in his voice. He didn't sound upset, in fact he sounded really upbeat. He knows full well that his days are limited. He said he knew that in a few months he'd be enduring a lot of pain as his body began to slowly turn against itself. And yet he was so peaceful and joyful. He didn't seem to be mad about the fact that he is so young and will leave this world without getting to experience so many things in life. He shared that he was hanging out with a friend who asked him what he'd like to see before he died. He thought about it and he said he'd like to see the Redwoods in California. He said he didn't know if he'd actually get to see them or not, but he ended that statement by saying, "Even if I don't get to see them, I'm going to be in Heaven and so I'm not going to be the least bit upset about missing that." What a powerful statement!
I was blown away by his courage and unwavering faith. I don't know how I would handle myself in that situation. I have to believe I'd probably be angry, discouraged, overwhelmed, afraid. I don't know that I would be as optimistic and joyful were my life span to be so short. Yet the more I thought about it, and what he said, the more I realized that he was so right. Because we look at life and we just can't imagine anything better. We want to grow up, go to college, get a job. We want to get married, have babies, watch our babies grow up. And when we've achieved all of that, we want to become grandparents. We want to enjoy retirement. We want to see the world, experience as many fun, new things as possible, and we want to make sure to squeeze as many days as we possibly can out of this life. And even when we face difficult situations, when we go through trials and nothing seems to be good, we still want to be here. We want something better, but we want something better on this earth. The truth is, even on the best of the best of days, that's as good as it's going to get.
I learned of two really tragic deaths yesterday. Both were young people, both were accidents, and my heart broke. I desperately hoped that they knew Jesus and that He was their Savior. I hoped that they were spending the rest of eternity with Him. Because when we are in His presence, we aren't going to care the least about what we may have "missed out" on in this life. We won't care one bit about what we did or didn't have, what we got to do or didn't get to do. In fact, it won't even be a fleeting thought. And if we were given a chance to come back to earth after we experienced a moment in Heaven, there'd be no question that we'd turn it down. Because although our minds can't possibly fathom it, it's more beautiful that the most beautiful sight we've ever seen. Our best moments in life will pale in comparison to the time we spend at the feet of His throne. We won't have to hope for something different, or ask for anything more. We won't have to wish for better days or new seasons. There truly will be no way it could get any better. And that's exactly how each day will be.
And so I look forward to being there one day. I love my life here and I hope to squeeze as many days out of it as I can, but I look forward to being complete. Completely healed, completely joyful, completely satisfied, completely fulfilled, completely cleansed, completely righteous, completely at peace...forever.
#596 - Because one day we will be completely complete.
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." - Ephesians 3:19
I was blown away by his courage and unwavering faith. I don't know how I would handle myself in that situation. I have to believe I'd probably be angry, discouraged, overwhelmed, afraid. I don't know that I would be as optimistic and joyful were my life span to be so short. Yet the more I thought about it, and what he said, the more I realized that he was so right. Because we look at life and we just can't imagine anything better. We want to grow up, go to college, get a job. We want to get married, have babies, watch our babies grow up. And when we've achieved all of that, we want to become grandparents. We want to enjoy retirement. We want to see the world, experience as many fun, new things as possible, and we want to make sure to squeeze as many days as we possibly can out of this life. And even when we face difficult situations, when we go through trials and nothing seems to be good, we still want to be here. We want something better, but we want something better on this earth. The truth is, even on the best of the best of days, that's as good as it's going to get.
I learned of two really tragic deaths yesterday. Both were young people, both were accidents, and my heart broke. I desperately hoped that they knew Jesus and that He was their Savior. I hoped that they were spending the rest of eternity with Him. Because when we are in His presence, we aren't going to care the least about what we may have "missed out" on in this life. We won't care one bit about what we did or didn't have, what we got to do or didn't get to do. In fact, it won't even be a fleeting thought. And if we were given a chance to come back to earth after we experienced a moment in Heaven, there'd be no question that we'd turn it down. Because although our minds can't possibly fathom it, it's more beautiful that the most beautiful sight we've ever seen. Our best moments in life will pale in comparison to the time we spend at the feet of His throne. We won't have to hope for something different, or ask for anything more. We won't have to wish for better days or new seasons. There truly will be no way it could get any better. And that's exactly how each day will be.
And so I look forward to being there one day. I love my life here and I hope to squeeze as many days out of it as I can, but I look forward to being complete. Completely healed, completely joyful, completely satisfied, completely fulfilled, completely cleansed, completely righteous, completely at peace...forever.
#596 - Because one day we will be completely complete.
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." - Ephesians 3:19