The Throne in Heaven

Continuing to think about my friends' loss of their child.

On the way to work this morning I pondered how beautifully glorious the weather/sky was yesterday in Richmond. And I had to shake my head because I wondered, "how could the same God who made such majesty and absolute beauty to behold also take the life of this child?"

I know there is a much bigger picture here - so many children dying, many being killed . . . those parents, those relatives, those friends all grieve for them too. Last night my husband reminded me that we just don't understand death. We don't know what's on the other side. I told him I knew heaven was so wonderful that it was selfish to want to deny anyone that experience. But I grieve for those who are left behind - for whom, at least for a while, that truth is not enough to heal a broken heart.

I recently read, "Heaven is for Real" and it forever changed my view of the afterlife. It's about a young boy who died - for only a few moments before he was revived on the operating table - who relates to his parents over the following several months some of his experiences there - meeting relatives he had never known, seeing Jesus and the angels; describing how wonderful it was there. One line that has really stuck with me, to which I cling, and I share in a feeble attempt to offer some small shred of comfort and peace to anyone who has lost a loved one.

The child's father is a pastor and he had accompanied his dad to visit a hospice patient. The woman was only hours away from dying and she was fretting a bit. The author said his son reached out, put his little hand on the woman's shoulder and whispered to her, "Don't worry, Jesus is the first person you're going to meet."

I have so many questions to ask when I get to heaven. So many things I just don't understand and could never possibly grasp. I add to my list of questions almost daily! But I realize that when I get there, all my questions will go away - all will be right in my soul. At the foot of the throne, there will be no more worries, no concerns, no problems will remain -- only all-encompassing love and peace. It is beyond comprehension. But then, everything about God is!

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne" (Revelation 4:1-3).

Blessings on your journey,
Mary