Peace in the Storm

A huge crack of thunder woke me up at 3:30 this morning. It was then that I realized that it was raining very hard. Several more flashes of lightening and a couple of more huge thunder rolls later, I realized something else: my youngest daughter was in bed with us.

She does not like storms and when the thunder woke her up, she came to our room. After unsuccessfully trying to convince her to go back to her own bed, my wife, Sara, decided to left her crawl in beside her. When lightening lit up the sky again, my daughter jumped over Sara so that she could sleep between us and that is when I woke up.

Now, we generally don’t let our kids sleep in our bed. In fact, I think it has happened only a handful of times, but there was something nice about it this time. The storm had not changed. In fact, if anything, it had become worse, but there was my daughter, no longer scared, sleeping like a baby between her parents.

It made me think back to times when, as a little kid, I would go to my mom’s room when I was scared in the night. She could not take away the bad dream that I had, or the storm that raged outside, but just having her there made all the difference in the world.

There is something about having your parents nearby that makes a huge difference. Knowing that you are not alone changes everything.

When the writer of the book of Hebrews wanted to encourage his readers, he reminded them that, “ God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ (Hebrews 13:5-6)

No matter what you are facing today, please remember that God is near. He is anxious to help you. He is glad when you call on him and he is happy to help you find the peace that you need.

After all, he is our father!

Eternity Now!

Life after death has always fascinated humankind. For example, “Christian Book Distributors”, an online bookstore, has more than 2813 books on its website that have to do with heaven, hell or life after death. From the Egyptians with their pyramids and mummies, to all the movies and books that our culture produces, we want to know what is to come.

1 Corinthians 15 gives us some answers, sort of anyway. In this chapter, we are told that life after death is real (verses 20-28). We are assured that our physical death will not be the end of us and that our Spirits will live on. “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (verses 51-52).

Now, the Bible does not answer all our questions about death. For example, it never tells us where heaven will be, what our new heavenly bodies will look like, or even exactly what we will be doing in heaven. In fact, the Bible’s discussion of life after death has less to do with “curiosity” and answering all of our questions as it does with “motivation”. When the Biblical writers think about eternity, they see it as a reason to live a different kind of life here.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (verse 58).

Old time preachers used to say, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people”. In other words, this is our time to get ready.

“One day I am going to die and most of what preoccupies me and drains me will recede into nothingness. But the dead in Christ will rise” – John Ortberg.

If we are living in God’s kingdom now, we will continue to live in that kingdom in eternity.