I walked through the front door of our house the other day, after traveling for several weeks. Ahh, that special feeling of being home greeted me once again. As I carried my little boy down the hallway, who had hours before fallen asleep for the night, I was overwhelmed with peace. There is just something about that feeling of coming home that I can only imagine in one other place.
I believe that God gives us foretastes on earth of what Heaven is going to be like. We have precious gems, to understand the glory of the New Jerusalem. We have beautiful rivers to understand the moving of His Spirit. That day, I had my own home to remind me of how amazing it will be when we walk though those gates and enter into His eternal rest. What a joy to look forward to, what a hope to be embraced.
Then, I was once again gently reminded of Psalms 23. At a close study, we understand that what was going on around the writer was not necessarily a reminder of Heaven. He was surrounded by the presence of his enemies & going through the valley of the shadow of death. Have you ever felt that way? I sure have! It was in those times, that this passage of scripture became real to me. We don’t have to wait for Heaven to experience green pastures & still waters on the inside. They are for us now, but they require something of us.
After Jesus rose from the dead, we were not left here alone. A Comforter has come to abide with us forever. Jesus said in Jn 14:16-20, He was to be with us & to live in us. There is no need to wonder where we need to look to experience peace. We look inside, where He abides! We aren’t waiting for Heaven. We put our eyes on what is eternal, taking them off of the temporary. We become doers of 2 Cor 4:18, looking at the things that are not seen.
So when the storm rages & the winds blow, we know where our peace comes from! Acts 17:28, an all time favorite of mine, says “for in Him we live and move and have our being.” We must put our eyes on Him, not on the storm. It is simply our choice, but it will produce the greatest peace. Why put our eyes on our bank account, which could look empty, when we can put our eyes on the one who will supply our every need? Why put our eyes on our sicknesses, when we can look to the one who went around doing good and healing every manner of disease.
I can remember a few years back when I was in Mexico city with my husband and my mom. We went to visit a hotel with a beautiful outdoor restaurant, little did we know it was titled after a lion tamer & there was a lion fenced in the garden. It was night time & we were walking beside the fence row, my mom being right by the fence. Now, you have to understand, she doesn’t even like big dogs. Without us knowing he was there, that lion had walked up right beside us & let out the roar of a life time. Well, how can I put it in words? My mom jumped, ran & ended up in the lap of a Mexican man. We still laugh about that!
We had no idea what was in the fence! Let me tell you, it was mighty & powerful! So it is with us, we have been given all we need to make it through this life victoriously. Col 1:27 lets us know that Christ in us is the hope of Glory. No need to wait to experience the wonders of Heaven until we arrive. Let’s tap into all He offers now! As Jesus shared with His disciples that He would be sending them His Spirit, He began by calling Him the Comforter. That is who He is in us! All we need abides closer than the air we breath!
How wonderful it would be to experience Heaven now, like so many that have gone before us. I sometimes feel like Paul in Phil 1:23-24 who said it was more needful to be here, yet you can tell from his passion he would rather be there. We have a job to do, a life to live & only this one opportunity to do something for Him. The joy of truly being home is before us & it is our blessed promise to help us look forward. Until then my friend, we have the presence of His Spirit that lives inside. At any moment, in the middle of any storm or simply when we need a rest, we can look to the one who lives inside and experience Him now.