A Glimpse of Eternity

It’s been nearly nine years since my father went home to Jesus. As I sat there next to the gentleman who had been his best friend, I knew we were feeling the knowing of a man of God, a truth teller, and touching the edges of a vastness only snatched in glimpses this side of eternity. For that brief moment, we were touching heaven in a way that made the pain of earth sharper and the joy of life richer.

Theirs was a deep and abiding friendship made rich by the Spirit of God, and their adventures together were the backdrop of my childhood. My memories, both of heart and mind, are full of their laughter, their stories, and their prayers. And their songs. Good voices, both of them, and often harmonizing as only two men who know each other well can do.

As we talked, my hand on his frail knee, his papery hand on my arm, I knew the Lord’s pleasure in our reunion. We were connected by shared history and by the love of God, and my heart was full and aching. Full of gratitude and blessing for this gentle man, who even now endures ministry with grace and fortitude. Aching with the sorrows of a long life. There is a sweetness in aged ones who have walked with God and pursued His kingdom. And it in no way diminishes the forged strength that will finish the race.

Touching him today has strangely infused me with renewed energy and hope for tomorrow. As though Jesus had joined hands with us and with that saint who had been my father and made a circle enfolding boundless grace. C.S. Lewis called eternity the Boundless Now. I believe I might have experienced that in some mysterious way today.

We live in linear time, but in God, we can be surprised by glimpses of eternity. In the sharing of life with others and in the quiet of meditation. It is possible to find a place of stillness, without past, present or future, where God dwells and where we can know Him. The mysteries of God are unsearchable, and yet we do search. In fact, He tells us to. He wants to reveal unsearchable things to us. Further, we desperately need Him to. There are things we need to know that only He can reveal.

Dear One, is your heart searching for Him? In this age of information, are you desperate for revelation? We do not know what the future holds. But we can know the One who already knows because He’s already seen it. I think He wants us to know more than we do. He wants us to be prepared for tomorrow. Let us seek Him and let us be willing to hear what He has to say.

“For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:15-19a NASB)

Until next week, beloved, search for Him and listen with your heart for His revelation.