As time passes the further one is propelled into the unknown. The past serves as a set of reference points for traction and stabilization when ultimately in order to move into the future, one has to let go of what he or she is attached to and take a leap of faith. The moment when these leaps are necessary are uncomfortable, high pressure situations when circumstances are starting to reach an ultimatum or some kind of tipping point. No one is exempt from the necessity for advancement, all of us are required to move forward, all required to make progress.
An interview for a new job, a family event, a move to a new house or city, all serve to make people move forward into newness of life. Rebirth is a process that challenges us to be brave and to advance without leverage when we find nothing familiar by which to gain traction. Leaps of faith are seldom pleasant, nor are they easy. There have been times during my travels when, after sitting or hiking on a mountain top or the edge of a cliff, I have to take to the air again and head back home. Rather than slowly rising from my precarious position I usually opt to jump and begin flying in mid air. Although my gift has yet to fail me this requires a degree of courage until I begin to sail up and away from where I was on the mountain top. Life rewards courage, but of course what one dares to do should never be foolish or overly brazen. I’ve found the saying, “The greater the risk, the greater the reward,” to be true at times, but not as often as the warning, “Look before you leap,” would have been wiser and more beneficial. In order to enter a new phase of one’s life sometimes there has to be a breakthrough first step when one sheds connections to the past and flies on toward that might be in store in days ahead. If those connections are too fortified, if the past has chained you to the spot, and you either cannot or will not break them, then it will be impossible to emerge into newness of life. We must be ready and willing to depart from the present and especially from the past.
People don’t like to hear this because the past is comfortable and many have worked hard to get to where they are in the present. Rebirth is seldom an easy process. No one wants to have what they’ve worked for taken away, and that is where faith comes in. On the brink of a new era is where it sometimes seems like all is lost, like all the hard-fought battles were for naught, and like one has lost the war for life itself. It is supremely important to maintain faith in times like these. Remember the scriptures, “Your life is hidden with Christ in God,” “Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven,” and, “No one can snatch it out of my Father’s hand.” What we are most afraid of losing, God protects for us. We are not supposed to be anxious, we are supposed to pray. We catch glimmers of the heavenly treasure we have waiting for us as reminders during the difficult times when we need to have faith.
The profound truth of existence shines back at us from the heavenly future. Only in rare instances can we catch a glimpse of how awesome life will be. These moments of clarity reveal the vast difference between the glorious day and the cluttered, tangled, convoluted night leading up to salvation. We are blind, deaf, and mute compared to how we will be when God’s kingdom comes. We are reminded of God’s sovereignty and how life is meant to be, clear, vivid, powerful, spacious, and free. Everyone knows and understands that God is generous, but on the day when He welcomes us home—if He welcomes us—we will finally know and understand what generosity truly means.
People think of heaven as a pleasant place full of nice things where we will all be reunited with our loved ones and sing Christmas songs with the angels. And it is. We will be reunited and sing with angels. But heaven is also a place of absolute, wondrous power that cannot be taken away. This is partly why one must be perfect in order to be chosen for the next age. Perfect is a frightening word in this context, but don’t let it scare you too much. Perfect love casts out fear.
Heaven will be everything times infinity, to use child speak. The kingdom begins beyond the horizon. We don’t know and can’t know how great it is, but the day is fast approaching when God will welcome His children, and condemn those who aren’t and throw them into a burning lake of pain forever and ever. That’s right, fear him, but don’t be afraid.
I look forward to seeing my parents and family in heaven, the friends I’ve had throughout my life, my old dogs who were my best friends while they were alive. And what am I talking about, they are alive. They even visit me once in a while and ghost-jump on me and try to wrestle me down. I look forward to all the nice aspects of heaven, and I also remember to fear heaven’s power. Such power demands perfection. Only Jesus can make us stand perfect in the presence of our Creator.
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