A GIFT FOR ALL SEASONS

Life is precious. Most of us cling to life and do all we can to prolong it. A friend's mother is recuperating from serious surgery as a result of a malignant tumor. We have prayed her through the surgery and will continue to pray that God will prolong her life. A woman in our women's ministry had her son and his family for Thanksgiving. He returned to Atlanta ill and ended up fighting for his life as he has battled pericarditis and a serious staph infection. But...he WANTS to live. If given the chance, most of us will fight for our lives.

One young woman that was a neighbor of our daughter-in-love's family gave birth to a baby the day before our granddaughter was born. She was 32. Two nights ago, she died suddenly of a blood clot. No warning. Gone in a heartbeat. No time to cling to life, yet if she had been given the chance, I'm sure she would have fought.

We fight for life because it is all we know. For those of us who are believers, we KNOW that one day we will spend eternity with Jesus Christ in Heaven. And that is a priceless gift. But for now, that is intangible to us so it is hard for us to fathom. Yet the older I get, the more I yearn for it. I've heard older people talk of how they too long for Heaven because you get to a certain age when you know more people who are there, than are HERE! Thankfully, I'm not there, YET!

But I want us just for a moment to think about and to contemplate what a gift HEAVEN is. What usually makes me yearn for Heaven is trouble here. I look forward to the day when we will have no more heartache and no more tears. No more pain and no more dying. But Jesus told us that in THIS life we would have tribulation...it is inevitable, a result of the sin curse we live under. Yet we yearn to be trouble free.

JESUS CALLING by Sarah Young says:

Instead of yearning for a problem free life, rejoice that trouble can highlight your awareness of My Presence. In the darkness of adversity, you are able to see more clearly the radiance of My Face. Accept the value of problems in this life, considering them pure joy. Remember that you have an eternity of trouble free living awaiting you in Heaven.

What a gift!!!!! HEAVEN.............."An eternity of trouble free living"!