1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
Today I am relaying a story to you that I heard from a friend who is a Pastor.* He heard it from one of the participants. The scene is a hospital room. The occupant of the hospital bed is Dr. R. G. Lee, a former pastor. Dr. Lee was known for his preaching of the Word of God. He preached the entire book and left nothing out.
Surrounding Dr. Lee were Dr. Adrian Rogers, Billy Graham, and George Beverly Shea. Those three men were praying and singing hymns to ease the transition of Dr. Lee to his heavenly home. I understand that, just before his passing, Dr. Lee said “Adrian, are you here?”, to which Dr. Rogers replied, “I am here”. Then Dr. Lee said, “Adrian, I didn’t do it justice!” and then he entered the presence of The Lord.
I think about that story and am comforted. All of those men are with Jesus now. They all preached or sang about a glorious home called Heaven. A home where, as believers, we expect to live one day. But my comfort is even deeper than that. I am comforted to know that, even if we try, we can’t picture the beauty or magnificence that really is. What a beautiful reminder that God, Himself, is bigger and greater than we can ever imagine. To know that God, who holds everything in existence for us today, has a place waiting for us that is above and beyond what our earthly minds can fathom. One day we will see it!
What will it be like to see a new world that hasn’t been ravaged by sin? How blue will the sky be? How many different colors of green are really in the springtime leaves? What flowers, what birds… what will everything be like? Think about it. Try to imagine it as much as you can. Then remember that you can’t. None of us can. We really can’t imagine!
*Dr. Kirk Kilpatrick, Lakeland First Baptist Church, Lakeland, Tennessee
Photo Credit: © iStock.com/Bilanol ID 2020858327