My dad jokes about death more than anyone I have ever known. He is 94 and says he never dreamed he would live this long, outliving my mother by 30 years. He jokes that maybe God forgot about him. The worst part of a visit with him is saying goodbye, because there is never a guarantee I’ll see him again. In contrast to me, Dad seems quite at peace about his situation. Sometimes I feel like a hoarder trying to hang onto my moments with him.
Then I had a dream that changed my outlook. I was thinking about my relationship with my dad as I drifted off to sleep on the couch in his living room, and suddenly I was on the other side. I recognized some of my loved ones who had already passed on to heaven sitting in a light-filled room watching arrivals. A glass elevator would shoot up every few minutes and someone would get out and be greeted with hugs and a joyous celebration. I realized they were waiting for people who had passed from this life. All the tears and sadness here were balanced with rejoicing there.
The most amazing aspect of the dream was seeing how my loved ones were waiting. It wasn’t the kind of impatient or nervous waiting I tend to do in airports or bus stations. It was a beautiful, peaceful waiting, knowing that everything was going to happen in God’s perfect time. I realized that my dad is experiencing that same kind of peace.
Since having the dream, I have a different view of my aging father. I count it as a blessing every time I talk to him or see him, but I have stopped fretting. His time is in God’s hands and his passing will be in God’s time, with loved ones on the other side to welcome him to his eternal home.1
Jesus has prepared a place for each believer in heaven.2 If you want to be sure that you will go to heaven, where you will meet with other believers who have gone before and are waiting for you, all you have to do is receive Jesus as your Savior by simply praying:
Dear Jesus, thank You for giving Your life for me so that I can live forever in heaven. Please come into my heart. I ask that You forgive me for the wrong things I’ve done, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and give me Your gift of eternal life. Thank You. Amen.