Hope for Your Heart: Finding Strength in Life's Storms (25 page)

What do you know about heaven? What’s your impression of what it will be like? We are given hints and glimpses from Scripture, and we can see that:

• This is your hope: Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
  ⁶
  
• This is your hope: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
  ⁷
  
• This is your hope: “In [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
  ⁸
  
• This is your hope: “There the weary are at rest.”
  ⁹
  
• This is your hope: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
  ¹⁰
  
• This is your hope: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”
  ¹¹
  

Images like these help shape our impressions and fill in parts of the painting, but many important aspects are still hidden from our view. After talking with thousands of people over the years, many of whom were in the midst of terrible adversity, I’ve become convinced that there is a direct correlation between a person’s conception of heaven and the degree of hope they have.

Those with only a vague sense of what heaven will be like and a hazy image of what awaits them often lack a proper perspective of their lives here on earth. The difficulties of life weigh them down because they’re focused on the
here and now
and give little thought to the
there and then
.

Conversely, those who have spent considerable time pondering heaven, meditating on it, and formulating a clearer picture of it recognize the thin veil between life below and life above. They acknowledge the Scripture that states, “What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
¹²
They also understand more fully that their troubles here on earth are inconsequential compared to the glories and delights we’ll enjoy forever in heaven.

The apostle Paul assures us, “We do not lose heart. . . . For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
¹³

Does this mean that those who live in eager expectation of heaven are able to smile their way through the storms of life? No. No one enjoys pain. But when you know for certain you’re headed for that final home in heaven, your clear view of eternity gives you a proper perspective for your temporary trials.

When your hope is in heaven, your earthly suffering, though very real and painful, does not become all-consuming to the point of hopelessness. You know that soon enough your tears will be wiped away and your sadness will turn to joy. As the psalmist says, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
¹⁴

Over the years I have sung at numerous funerals . . . some victorious and some tragic. Of all the songs I have sung and have heard others sing, one grips my heart like no other. Apart from the haunting melody, the words of the chorus capture for me what death is like for the child of God. It paints perfectly the picture of what it is like to reach the shores of heaven.

A dear family friend sang this song at my mother’s memorial service (and I have requested it for my own). These words touch my heart and stir my hope.

Finally Home
¹⁵

When engulfed by the terror of tempestuous sea,

Unknown waves before you roll;

At the end of doubt and peril is eternity,

Though fear and conflict seize your soul.

Chorus
: But just think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven!

Of touching a hand and finding it God’s!

Of breathing new air and finding it celestial!

Of waking up in glory and finding it home!

When surrounded by the blackness of the darkest night,

O how lonely death can be;

At the end of this long tunnel is a shining light,

For death is swallowed up in victory.

Chorus
: But just think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven!

Of touching a hand and finding it’s God’s!

Of breathing new air and finding it celestial!

Of waking up in glory and finding it home!

Ask people on the street if they want to go to heaven when they die and you’ll undoubtedly hear a resounding “yes” from just about everyone. Ask them if they want to go to heaven today and from most you’ll hear a resounding “no.” They want to
eventually
go, but there are dreams in this life they want to fulfill first.

Randomly ask ten people to describe heaven, and you’re likely to hear references to harps, pearly gates, clouds, and angels that resemble chubby babies. These simplistic stereotypes show up repeatedly in movies, television shows, cartoons, advertisements, and comedy routines.

What a sad misrepresentation! Such clichéd and shopworn images have become ingrained in our society’s collective consciousness, but they couldn’t be further from the truth!

Heaven is a place of utter beauty where we will find utter fulfillment. And by the way, in the Bible, when people encountered angels, they didn’t find them cuddly, they found them
terrifying
because they are magnificent, powerful, supernatural beings committed to serving our God.

Personally I never really felt the need or even desire to focus on heaven until my mother was ready to go be with the Lord. Then I began thinking of what it would be like for her to be there.

Though I could no longer see her sweet face, I knew she was face-to-face with Christ her Savior. Now as I think of her and miss her (at times I still have unexpected tears), my greatest comfort of all is knowing she is at home in heaven in the precious presence of God . . . in the presence of her loving Lord. Heaven is sweeter by far, and my mother is there.

Realize, God has astonishing and amazing things in store for you. The Bible tells us, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
¹⁶
You’re in for an awe-inspiring future! Make no mistake, this is no fairy tale . . . you
will
live amazingly, happily ever after!

For those who feel battered and beleaguered by the storms of life . . . for the hungry, hurting, imprisoned, tortured . . . for those who have few options for improving their lot in this life, hold on, dear ones—the next port is paradise. When drowning in despair it’s hard to imagine a better life, but a blessed, eternal life awaits, free of all pain. You’re headed . . .
home
. “But our citizenship is in heaven,”
¹⁷
Paul reminds us.

On the last page of the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia, some of the children who have gone to Narnia lament that they once again must return to their homeland, the Shadowlands. But Aslan, the lion who represents Jesus, has the best news of all for them.

Speaking to the children, he said, “You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.”

Lucy said, “We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”

“No fear of that,” said Aslan. “Have you not guessed?”

Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream has ended; this is morning.”

And as he spoke he no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth had read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.
¹⁸

We can’t fully know what eternal life will be like or what wonders heaven will hold. But we can be assured that one delight after another awaits us. And there will be no more stormy times . . . only serenity. Truly our hope is in the promise of heaven.

One of the most common expressions associated with
hopelessness
is “Things will never change.”

When we look around our world today, we see a steady stream of hatred and violence manifested in a myriad of ways. It has been that way since the beginning of history. And now things seem to be going from bad to worse, and society seems destined for moral decay . . . forever.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

One of the most common expressions associated with
hopefulness
is “Change is a’comin’,” as President Dwight Eisenhower and others have said. And oh, is it ever.

The Bible presents this hope-filled promise: One day all sin will cease, and that means
all sin
. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and what are characterized as seven evils (death, mourning, weeping, pain, the curse, night, and the sea) will be gone
.
The sea?
Yes, in the book of Revelation the apostle John specifically prophesies, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and
the sea
was no more” (Rev. 21:1 esv).

What could this possibly mean? For a literal interpretation, consider these two certainties about our future: We will no longer face the proverbial storms of life, nor will we be in the proverbial “sea of troubles.”
¹⁹

While water covers the vast majority of the present earth’s surface, according to the Bible that will not be the case with the new earth. But why? Because the sea is often perceived as an opponent to humanity—turbulent, untamable, and terrifying when its great waves thunder and crash. If there is no more sea, there will be no more hurricanes and tidal waves, no more tropical storms and feared typhoons, no more cyclones and tsunamis, all of which have devoured and destroyed millions of lives.

Can you imagine how many lives have been lost at sea, how many drownings from disastrous shipwrecks? If someone sailing alone in the middle of the sea is deprived of help and hope, the untamed waters will swallow the sailor, leaving him to die in its murky depths.

But change is a’comin’ . . . and that should give us all a renewed sense of hope. This kind of hope “does not disappoint us”
²⁰
because we will permanently be in God’s presence. Pain will cease forever, and peace will reign forever. And we will be at home in heaven . . . at home in our truehome
. . .
for
eternity
!

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. (Eccles. 3:11)

Horatio Spafford is not a household name, but this respected lawyer, who experienced unimaginable loss, has long been a shining example of enduring hope.

Before the Civil War, Horatio met his wife-to-be, Anna, in Chicago when she began attending the Bible class he taught at his Presbyterian church. By the year 1871, they and their four young daughters (Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta) were living just north of Chicago when the Great Chicago Fire spread as an all-consuming inferno, destroying much of the city.

Unfortunately, many of the Spaffords’ real estate properties went up in flames, and while the couple’s personal residence was spared, the financial loss was significant.

During the next two years, Horatio and Anna worked tirelessly in relief efforts on behalf of the many desperate and destitute Chicago residents. By 1873 this exhausted couple needed rest and recuperation, so they planned a family vacation in Europe.

Additionally, because the Spaffords were strong supporters and close friends of renowned evangelist D. L. Moody, they planned to assist Moody as he traveled through Great Britain on one of his crusades where they knew countless lives would be changed.

In November 1873 the Spaffords traveled to New York, where they were to set sail aboard the French steamer SS
Ville du Havre
. At the last minute, a business obligation required Horatio’s brief return to Chicago. Not wanting to disrupt the family trip, the weary couple decided that Anna and the girls would go ahead of him to France. Horatio would join them shortly.

This practical decision proved to be life-altering.

An English ship, the
Lochearn
, accidentally rammed the large luxury ship on which Horatio’s family sailed. Amidst the sound of twisting metal and rushing water, panic ensued. Anna made it to the deck with her four daughters clinging to her.

The ship sank in a mere twelve minutes, claiming the lives of most of the passengers and crew—226 in all. An hour later, rescuers found Anna floating unconscious in the water, a bare plank keeping her afloat. All four girls, however, had drowned.

Long afterward, Anna described the moment when she regained consciousness in the lifeboat. In utter despair she remembered the rushing waters tearing her daughters from her grasp. But a voice seemed to speak to her from within: “You are spared for a purpose. You have work to do.”

Several days after the tragedy, the rescue ship arrived in Cardiff, Wales. Anna sent her husband a simple two-word telegram: “Saved alone.”

It can’t be . . . all four of my precious girls
gone?
The caring, grief-stricken father felt horrified and helpless. Yet even in his agony, even in his anguish, he affirmed his faith. He told a friend, “I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost me something.” And for Horatio the cost was incomprehensible.

Horatio immediately set off to rejoin his heartbroken wife. During the voyage the captain of the ship called him to the bridge.

“A careful reckoning has been made,” the captain said, “and I believe we are now passing the place where the
du Havre
was wrecked. The water is three miles deep.”

After a time of pensively looking over the watery grave, in the midst of deep sorrow, Horatio began to pen the lyrics of the beloved hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” The first verse conveys the ocean imagery:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.
¹

This hymn holds a special place in my heart for three reasons. First, when my father lay in the hospital dying of cancer, the day before he breathed his last breath, this was the last song I sang for him. My personal prayer was that the melody and words would give him peace . . . that sweet peace that “surpasses all understanding.”
²

A few days later I sang “It Is Well with My Soul” at his funeral. And as I sang these words, I distinctly thought back to his eighty-sixth birthday when, for the first time in his life, he prayed to receive Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. What a difference to have true peace . . . to have peace
from
God and peace
with
God.

As I sang another verse, I applied it to my father.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

The last reason I am so endeared to this hymn involves the many hearts all around the world who have been calmed and comforted by its message of hope. As I think about the hundreds of memorial services where I have been asked (and honored) to bring comfort through a ministry of music, no song has been
more
requested than “It Is Well with My Soul” . . . penned in the midst of pain by a man who desperately needed peace.

A Scripture I have been drawn to for years perfectly reflects this godly lawyer and businessman. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa. 32:17). Because he was right with God, he had the peace of God.

The part of the hymn that always causes joy to swell within my soul is the very last verse. It contains a glimpse of the hope every authentic Christian has, reminding us of our
guaranteed hope
of eternity in heaven. Notice the words “my faith shall be sight”! We will literally
see
what God planned
firsthand
! It will all be unrolled like a scroll.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

The refrain repeats this again and again to emphasize this glorious truth.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

The tragic beauty of this classic hymn has drawn countless people to Christ during the darkest times and is made all the more meaningful when people learn of its writer’s deep woes.