Heaven will be glorious when God finishes His work of using you to plant gospel seeds everywhere you go while you were here on this earth.
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SHAUNA: Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. If you didn’t know this already, Joni loves singing about heaven!
JONI: Like the other night I was just lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling. I was so happy in Jesus. And happy to think that soon – who knows how soon – but I know soon I’m going to heaven and see Him face-to-face. And just as a prayer of praise from the heart I just started singing…
(Joni sings:)
“When all my labors and trials are o’er, And I am safe on that beautiful shore, Just to be near the dear
Lord I adore, Will through the ages be glory for me. O that will be glory for me, Glory for me, glory for me, When by His grace I shall look on His face, That will be glory, be glory for me.”
You know what? That’s an old, old, hymn. And I don’t even think many people even sing it nowadays, but I sure do. I may not be quite on pitch; I may not be able to hit the high notes, but I love singing songs about heaven and how glorious it’s going to be [and you can understand why, me being in this wheelchair] and I also love poems about the coming glory. Like this beautiful old poem by Martha Snell Nicholson. And this is how it goes. She says:
Sometime, some ordinary day will come,
A day like this, filled to the brim
With ordinary tasks, perhaps so full
That we have little time or thought for Him;
And there will be no hint from silent skies,
No sign, no clash of cymbals, roll of drums,
And yet that ordinary day will be
The very day before our dear Lord comes!
The day before we lay our burdens down,
And learn instead the strange feel of a crown,
The day before all grieving will be past,
And all tears wiped away at last, at last;
When we shall bid farewell, nor see again
That bitter-sweet, lifelong companion, pain
But through unmerited, unfathomed grace,
Our rapt eyes shall behold our Savio’'s face!
Oh child of God, awake and work and pray;
‘Cause that ordinary day may be today,
And yet the setting of tomorrw’s sun
May well find a billion souls still here, unwon!
Well, I think you can see why I love this poem. It’s a powerful reminder that, yes, the Lord Jesus could come back for us this year, this month – even tomorrow. And for heaven to be truly glorious, we’ve just got to finish the work of the kingdom down here on earth. A billion souls are yet to be won into Christ’s kingdom. And it’s why I do not mind being in this wheelchair another few months or another few years, maybe even 10 or 15 years. Because the longer Jesus delays in coming back for us – hey, the more time you and I have to tell others about Jesus Christ, to have them become part of God’s family. Heaven will be glorious when God finishes Hs work, His work of using us to plant gospel seeds and reap a rich harvest. Oh, that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me. Sing it if you know it! When by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me. And it will also be great glory for our Savior.
SHAUNA: Amen to that Joni. And thank you so much for this wonderful insight today.
© Joni and Friends