Friends
Independence Day is almost upon us. Thanking God for our country, our freedoms, and the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who serve and protect us so that we might live free.
Today, let’s visit the sandy shores once more. The ocean seems to offer a great source of analogies for me right now, so grab your flip flops and join me in the sand!
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“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 – NIV
Many years ago, I traveled to the ocean with two young cousins from Colorado. This was a trip of firsts for these elementary-school-age boys, their first visit to the East Coast, and their first glimpse of the ocean. I remember the moment we emerged from the sand dunes, all that deep blue water tumbling and crashing against a sandy shoreline that stretched for miles. Both boys stopped dead in their tracks, simultaneously catching their breath in sheer amazement as they stared bug-eyed at that vast expanse of churning water. After a few moments of awestruck silence, one of the boys whispered in bewilderment, “Where’s the other side?”
Have you ever stood on the shoreline and gazed at the horizon, wondering where the ocean ends? Have you ever posed the question, “What’s it like on the other side?”
I don’t know about you, but that vast expanse of water stretching out across the horizon always makes me ponder. I know that this ocean ends at another land mass thousands of miles away. I know there are people just like me playing on those sandy shores and looking out across the horizon.
I have read about the ocean in science books. I have traced the ocean’s outline with my finger on a world globe. I have listened to lectures describing the creatures that live in the depths of the sea, and then watched such creatures float before me in the waters behind the aquarium glass. I know these things to be true.
Yet, standing on the ocean shore, watching the deep blue waters fade into the distant horizon, I cannot see these things with my eyes. I cannot touch these things with my hands. I can only believe these things with my heart.
Heaven is like that. I have heard about heaven all my life, beginning with the Bible stories of my childhood, and later learning more through my adult investigation of the Bible. I have listened as preachers did their best to describe what we know of heaven, and I have explored the scriptures that tell of its glory.
Yet, standing here, on this earthly shore, I cannot see heaven. I cannot touch it. I cannot hear the heavenly choir. I cannot verify the existence of heaven with my five senses. I can only believe it’s true with my heart. I have nothing to prove its reality. I just feel it in the depths of my soul.
One day, I will stand on that heavenly shore and see it all so clearly. One day, the worries, losses and heartaches of this world will be washed away. On that day, my faith will become sight. On that fine day, I will know, and be fully known.
I can’t see heaven right now. From this vantage point, I cannot view what lies on the other side of this earthly life. Still, I can trust in the assurance of heaven. I can stand on my faith and believe that heaven is real. It’s as real to me as the sand between my toes or the sunshine that warms my face. No, I can’t see it all right now, but I can believe it, and that, my friends, is enough for me.
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For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 – NIV
PRAYER
O Lord God, let Heaven be real to us. Let the knowledge of its glory seep down deep within our souls. Though we are bound by the worries of this earthly life, open our hearts and our minds to feel the assurance of heaven. Thank You for sending Your Son to atone for our sins, to save us and make us ready to one day know the beauty that awaits us on Your heavenly shore.
In the Saving Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Blessings,
Anita
-APS 7/1/2024
Faith Beyond Sight 