Tag: heaven

With the Dawn…

Published on by JackieLeave a comment

Silent Night, Holy Night…

The carollers sang gently, aware that they were standing in a sacred moment.

All is calm, all is bright…

Their harmonized voices complemented the aura of stillness in hallway of the nursing home, a holy pairing of quietness and soothing melody.

The well worn song had probably been sung for the listener hundreds of times, a lifetime of Christmases.

But this evening is different. For this person, it might be the last Silent Night.

Glories stream from heaven afar…

This thought could be heard in the richness of the music as each voice sang with passion and purpose.

It was evident in their eyes that each one in the group was thinking about the glory of heaven… and heaven felt closer in that place, where one was so close to the gate.

Heavenly hosts sing alleluia!

These voices that were singing Silent Night so richly, that swelled the Hallelujah chorus in a train station just two days ago, were nothing to the choir their audience will hear next.

Yet they sang their best, as if to create a humble prelude of that which is soon to come.

Christ the Saviour is born!

We are celebrating His birth in the face of death… singing of His birth to one who will soon experience the full gift of His resurrection: entrance into heaven.

As the song continued, I saw the emotions of humanity, made vulnerable by the weight of this occasion.

The tears in the nurse’s eyes as she stood in the doorway of her patient’s room… knowing she would soon walk this dear soul to the doorway of eternity, and could go no farther with them.

The thoughtful expression of serious young faces, thinking about a reality they rarely come face to face with.

A smile of anticipation and eyes suddenly alight – are they imagining how wonderful it would be to wake up in Heaven on Christmas morning?

Silent Night, Holy Night…

Inside that room was indeed a Silent Night. For the waiting one, for the caregiver, for loved ones.

But we still sang. Who were we, to sing of Christmas at such a time?

Son of God, Love’s pure light

No night is too dark and silent for God’s love to shine into. His light is our hope.

The prayer in the hearts of the carollers was this – that hope would shine into the Silent Night in that little room.

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

It almost seemed as if the light of heaven did brighten that crowded hallway as we stood there with one who is nearing heaven’s gate.

Every heart was encouraged to keep on in our journeys until we each arrive home…

With the dawn of redeeming grace!

A Christmas season departure breaks the hearts of those left behind. But let hope be found in the angels words on a long ago Silent Night… the words that announced Salvation’s plan unfolding, words that forever changed the course of history, and words that if we choose, will impact our own future for eternity:

“Christ the Savior is born!”

Forever, Amen.

Published on by Jackie1 Comment

If I could type in whispers right now, I would.

Beginning this post after typing the title feels like an intrusion.

As though I’m breaking the silence after a heartfelt prayer.

But I couldn’t use anything else for my title, because my thoughts are centered around the concept in that simple statement.

How often do I say “amen,” only to pick up the topic of my prayer again later?

How many times do I skip the “amen,” because I’m having a continuous conversation with Jesus as I work?

What does “amen” even mean?

The literal translation is, “let it be,” or “so it is.”

It’s an expression of strong agreement, or a statement that says, “that’s the way it is.”

I think of “amen” as a peaceful, final punctuation mark, so that nothing can be argued after “amen” has been said – the topic is simply laid to rest.

That’s the way it is… so let it be.

Yet I say “amen” to prayers every day that I pray again the next day.

We all do that.

It’s because we live imperfect lives, in an imperfect world.

I may pray through my fears to a place of peace, and say, “amen.”

I can give all possible outcomes to God and reach total surrender, and say “amen.”

I can praise Him for the many ways He is good to me, both seen and unseen, and say with conviction, “amen.”

But that stamp of completeness, of perfection, that statement of “this is truth” isn’t permanent in a faulty world.

Those problems aren’t gone overnight – and God invites us to keep praying continually.

Our messy hearts will have more emotions to work through – and the Father wants to help us sort them.

His goodness won’t run out, and we will see Him move for our benefit and protection in many more ways. There will always be new things to thank Him for.

It’s not wrong that we pray many prayers. And say frequent amens.

But what would it be like to live in a world where no more amens were needed?

Where completeness would be eternal… where perfection would be unshaken, unchangeable, and amen would last forever?

That’s going to be our reality… in heaven.

This evening, my youth group sang in a long term care home for a beautiful group of people who’ve lived long lives.

One lady broke down in tears as we sang, and I wondered, what unmet longing in her heart caused her to cry?

Was she simply longing to go home after many years of living in this world?

How many other hearts in the room held silent aches for different things, and cry hidden tears for them?

How many in the room regularly take those heartcries to our Father… and often say “amen” to prayers that really aren’t completed yet?

“Eternal God, Faithful and True, all of our longings come Home to You.”

As we sang those lyrics, my mind was wandering deeper pathways than the simple beauty of the music.

Those lyrics were profound in the moment. I don’t know what caused the tears we witnessed – but I do know the One Who can fill every longing.

Every pain that every causes us to cry can be soothed by the perfect love of Jesus.

Every pain we carry here will fade and disappear when we at last “come home to Him.”

After singing a few more songs, we went to another location to practice for our youth program.

One song ends with each part coming in at a different time to sing “amen,” which is where I got the inspiration for this post.

We had to practice singing “amen” so often!

Why? Because none of them were truly perfect.

Just as our prayers here are continuous, and we always end up needing another “amen,” because our lives aren’t complete and perfect.

We eventually stopped singing amen. (I won’t pretend to imply it was heavenly, however it was sufficiently improved to allow us to move on to the next song.)

We will eventually stop having heartaches and tears and needs that we wrestle with until we reach an “amen.”

There’s a day coming where we’ll step out of time and brokenness into eternal perfection.

Into the Light of Jesus…

Into His welcoming embrace…

And every longing will be fulfilled in Him.

Every tear will be wiped away by Him.

Every aching heart will be soothed by Him.

Together, we will enter the completion of His will…

That we are united with Him in glory.

When we feel the perfection of Heaven fill our beings with eternal life,

All the angels will hush in anticipation…

Every heart will be flooded with joy…

And together, we will turn to face our King, then with one voice say, “Amen.”

“This – right here in Your Presence – together in heaven – all things made new – THIS is true. THIS is how it is meant to be. THIS is the way it is. Nothing can change that. So let it be… forever, AMEN.”