The grey asphalt with its twin ribbons of yellow stretched out before us. Outside the passenger window, various heights, lengths, and shades of green nourished my soul. Resting on the horizon above stretched a fluffy white vista of mountains and valleys, like another land or a far-off, unknown world.

As a girl, I loved lying on my back to stare at the clouds. I imagined them soft and cozy to sit on, yet firm enough to walk on and jump across. With age and knowledge, I learned they are water droplets that gather. Blobs of mist, unable to support anything.

Do you yearn for a far-off world where life is different; better, like I do?

The idea of an unknown world, beyond the one we experience here and now, also seems like mist and imagination. It is easy to believe and trust in what we can see and touch. We don’t have to live long to realize this present world is not as substantial as we believe. Eventually, everything turns back to dust, its original state. Nothing we consider solid, reliable and permanent is. Mountains crumble or erode. Shorelines shift and change. Forests burn. People die. Empires rise and fall. Suns burn out. The earth quakes and cracks.

Yet, there is another far-off country, more substantial, tangible and eternal. The home where those who believe in and love Christ will someday live. Heaven.

Do you wonder what Heaven will be like? We can dream about it, but it won’t be like anything we imagine. Scripture gives us a picture of it but veiled.

Have you ever planned a vacation? You dream of how wonderful it will be, plan what to see, pack the proper clothing, book the best mode of travel and what looks like a comfortable place to stay.  But only once you arrive can you know what it is like and what you need. The truth will shatter and replace your expectations. Anticipation is often better than the actual thing.

Heaven will be different. It will far exceed anything we can imagine or expect.

The main reason is we will dwell with God. He is the completion of who we are. Right now, we can experience His presence, but only in part. In Heaven, we will BE in His presence and experience it fully. Sin won’t blur our vision, allowing us to see Him and know Him more clearly. We will be exactly who and how He planned us to be.

It is good to envision how life will be, but anything we imagine will pale in comparison. Our mortal, earthbound minds can’t grasp all that God is and the vastness of His love and mercy, let alone all He has stored up for us. What we know is it will be good. The Lord has promised us abundant life.

Think of the best moments you spent with Him here on earth, then multiply it a thousand-fold. It compares to texting with someone you love for years and then being with them. Imagine the joy, laughter, and closeness you would feel.

My husband and I distance dated for about a year. After moving back, I was ecstatic at being able to not only hear his voice but see and touch him. This is but a shadow of what it will be like to see Jesus, to live with Him and all our brothers and sisters in Christ, in perfect unity.

It seems like so much make-believe down here in the battle, but Jesus promised it would be so.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

John 14:1-3 NIV

Sisters, there is a better far-off country waiting for us. Not one of mists and fairy tales, but more real than anything we have known and far beyond our measly imaginings. So let us encourage one another to hold on and dream together of how amazing it will be. What a party it will be!

Be well!

Patricia