Heaven

I just finished reading a book call "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. This guy died in a car crash and was dead for over 90 minutes. During this time, he actually went to the gates of Heaven and saw them. It was an interesting book. I read it because I wanted to hear what he said heaven was like. I kept reading it because I was fascinated by his thought process and recovery. He says in the book that he went into a deep depression, because after he had seen heaven, he didn't want to come back to earth. He came back to earth to experience a long, hard recovery from an awful car crash. He was in the hospital for a long time and has never had a pain free day since the day of the crash.

The funny thing is, I thought I would find his description of heaven the most fascinating part of the book, but instead I found that his search for purpose amidst indescribable pain AFTER having experienced perfection to be the part I related to and the part that challenged me the most. Do I truly trust God and His purpose for my life? Do I accept that if I am here that I must have a purpose, a mission from God, so to speak? By the end of the book, Don had realized that he was brought back to earth for a purpose and he had accepted that purpose as being more important than his own physical comfort or his desire to return to heaven. He has accepted God's timing in his life for everything. I pray that I am able to accept God's timing in my life. I pray that I can put aside my own comfort, desires and wants in order to fulfill God's purpose.

I was also encouraged by the fact that heaven is really real. I have never doubted that I would go to heaven, or that there was a heaven, but I never really put it into terms of being a real place, with walls and streets and real people that I can hug and talk to. Now, I am even more excited about heaven. I am happy for those who have died before me because I know they are there and not here. The streets of gold aren't just a metaphor, the are real streets of gold. The gate to heaven really is made of a single pearl. When I read Revelation now, I can picture a real place, not just a metaphor or a fairy tale.

I am challenged to live more and more according to God's purpose for me and less and less according to my selfish desires. And I long for heaven. For the singing, the joy, the worship. To see God. For faith to become sight.