Made for An Eternity

 As a person who grew up in the church, I’ve heard about Heaven my entire life. As a 5 year old I could have told you that Heaven is where we go when we die. I could have probably even told you that it meant we go to be with God forever. I pictured mansions, a table with lots and lots of food (thanks Audio Adrenaline), and baby cherubim floating around (spoiler alert: it will be much greater than my 5 year old fantasy). To be quite frank, as a child, Heaven mostly felt like a “get out of jail free” card because I was mostly just afraid of going to Hell. Heaven, on the other hand, was such an abstract thought that it didn’t really excite me. 

The concept of eternity can be scary to think about because our human experience has no category for such a thing. I’ve heard it often said that as Christians we should always be looking towards eternity. C.S. Lewis famously said “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

Here’s the thing: I don’t find myself looking towards eternity all that often. I love looking towards the things I have to celebrate in this life. There are always birthdays, trips, babies, weddings, holidays, and so many other things that give me momentary joy that I can look forward to. I’m not saying these aren’t great things, they are! However, when I compare these earthly joys to the joy we will experience in eternity with The Father if we belong to Him, the two don’t even fit in the same category. We read in Revelation that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” That promise feels both foreign and familiar. It feels foreign because after only 30 years in this world I can’t picture a life without those realities. At the same time though, it feels familiar because it’s what I’m made for- I am made for an eternity where I get to enjoy my Heavenly Father forever. 

After the past year, what a relief it is to be reminded that this isn’t all that there is. Can you picture it? No more tears over racial injustice. No more death from global pandemics. No more political tensions, lost jobs, loneliness, divorce, cancer, depression, infertility, or chronic pain. Friends, these things will pass away and we will spend eternity at the feet of our Father who loves us perfectly. We can continue pressing on in this life knowing that this is not our home. It doesn’t excuse us from living our life intentionally and with purpose, but it does give us the ultimate hope to press on while we are still this side of Heaven. 

Kelsi Drake is our Director of Operations. As the Director of Operations, she oversees much of the administrative responsibilities of the church, and works closely with the staff team to support them in their roles.