Heaven is Our Hope

This is the third book that has helped me over the last year, and it has provided another essential type of comfort. The previous two books validated my pain and hurt. They have been my compassionate companions, guides that have led me carefully through a rocky field littered with hidden land mines. Those two books tell me secrets known only by those who've travelled the road. This one, Heaven, has helped me to stop on the way, to look up, and to see the stars shining over my head. It has given me hope that there is something good beyond heartbreak and loss.

I never gave much thought to Heaven before Joey went. I don't know why. I was so busy with this life that I thought very little about the next. But when my son left, it took on urgent importance. Where was he? What was he doing? Did he miss us? Did he have regrets? Was he okay?

I immediately began searching my Bible for answers. I found, that though the Bible gives very little concrete description of Heaven, it never, never stops talking about eternal life. It simply promises us that it will be more than we can imagine. It finally dawned on me that Heaven is what we have here, every good and glorious thing, love and truth and beauty, without the evil, pain and suffering--- and it goes on forever. And that's just the best news.

Jesus' promise that my son would be with Him in Paradise tells me that Joey is flourishing, and that helps me beyond anything else. Randy Alcorn sees it the same way, and in this book he gives us the details. It's comforting and it's exciting, and there will be a day of reunion. That's a great source of hope that helps me see past the pain.

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.