Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I have a beautiful Gospel song to sing about heaven. Maybe you know it. If you do, sing along.
Face-to-face with Christ my savior, face-to-face what will it be;
When with rapture I behold him, Jesus Christ who died for me.
Face-to-face I shall behold him, far beyond the starry sky.
Face-to-face in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love this hymn about seeing Jesus in heaven—face-to-face. I guess I love singing it because physical suffering is such a part of my daily routine here on Earth. Yikes! I mean, there are lots of mornings I wake up and I just don’t have the strength; I’m tired, I’ve had it, I’m worn out and I wonder where I’m going to find the energy. But you know what really helps me get it into gear spiritually: thinking about the finish line; thinking about heaven; remembering all those Old Testament promises about sorrow fleeing away and everlasting joy crowning our heads and the lame leaping like deer.
I guess you could say that my suffering—and yours, too—is God’s way of helping you and I get our minds on the hereafter. And I don’t mean the “hereafter” as a psychological crutch or an escape from the way things are down here on earth. God wishes to instill within each of us a strong desire for heaven, a desire for the imperishable, for the incorruptible, for the inheritance, as it says, “That never perishes, spoils, or fades.” And in order to grip our hearts for that heavenly joy, God sometimes takes drastic measures. You and I don’t appreciate His method at first, but later we’re always grateful for it. The Scottish theologian, Samuel Rutherford, described God’s preparations for us about heaven this way:
“If God had told me some time ago that He was about to make me as happy as I could be in this world, and then had told me that He should begin by crippling me in arm or limb; moving me from all my usual sources of enjoyment, I should have thought it a very strange mode of accomplishing His purpose. And yet, how is God’s wisdom manifest even in this! For if you should see a man shut up in a closed dark room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wished to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps, and then throwing open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.”
Oh, friend, soon we will see Jesus face-to-face. And I want you to pray with me today, “Lord of Heaven, please blow out all the lamps in my life that light up the here and now. Help me to see suffering as your path to heaven. Help me to remember that pain and problems are preparing me to meet you—you who will bear the scars of your suffering for all of eternity, wiping away our sorrow. In your name, Jesus, and all of us say: Amen.”
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376