Of Course

Last Sunday, one of my friends reminded me of the first two words we will say in heaven.

When we meet Jesus and get that welcome hug from our Savior, our soul eyes will be opened. We’ll finally understand why certain things happened to us on earth. We’ll know that the long periods of waiting taught us patience and compassion. Sorrow helped us realize that we should never take each other for granted. Illnesses threw us on our knees to beg for healing. All the stresses and problems of life helped us empathize with others who followed in our steps.

When we’re with Jesus, we’ll see how he poured extra grace on us for those times. The same powerful grace that helped him endure those six horrific hours on the cross enabled us to bear our crosses. In heaven, we’ll finally see the smile of God and realize how much he wanted to help us – how he longed to hear us cry out to him, “Abba Father – help me.”

Maybe God will show us a video of our lives on earth. In the background will be all the people who prayed for us, cried with us and encouraged us. We’ll see how our own prayers strengthened someone else in the darkest of nights. We may get a glimpse of the enemy forces that surrounded us and how warfare prayers rescued us. Like an umbrella of protection, I suspect we’ll see the Holy Trinity discussing our situation and letting us learn just long enough before one of them rescued us. Our hearts will soar with a new passion for worship as we realize all the ways God saved us.

We’ll understand it someday, and our first words will be, “Of course.”