A Glimpse of Heaven

It was a Friday when I got the call from the vet that we needed to make a decision on not IF to put Troop down, but when. I was devastated by having to make this decision and spent all night begging God to heal my dog. When I finally fell asleep, He gave me a dream. In my dream, I brought Troop home from the hospital and everything was very similar to real life. Our house looked the same, our land was the same but I could tell it was just different (lighting, weather, atmosphere). In this dream, Troop was healed, running around and playing with his ball. My parents came over to celebrate with me and showered me with gifts. Our air conditioning guy (random...?) was at the house replacing my air conditioner for free like he did every year...??? I woke up and assumed God was telling me He would heal Troop. We woke up early, went straight to the vet and expected Troop to be healed. He wasn’t. We ended up putting him down that day. Jarrod stood beside him and prayed over him as he took his last breath and we said goodbye.

Later I asked God, “what was with the dream? Why would I get a dream like that and then have to say goodbye?” He told me that my dream wasn’t what was going to happen on Earth, but a preview of what life is like in Heaven. He was showing me that my dog was no longer in pain and is now in a place where he can run and play without hurting. He was showing me that people there are loving, giving, kind, compassionate and joyful. I can't confidently say my vision was exactly what Heaven looks like, but I do know that He was giving me a glimpse of what it feels like to live in a place where sin, pain, selfishness and suffering don’t exist.

While He was giving me a glimpse of this world, He started talking to me about purpose. I was thinking about Troop and wondering why he made different breeds of dogs with certain skill sets. It also made me think of humans and how we were given spiritual gifts and purpose in life. I can understand why He gave humans purpose but I couldn’t figure out why He would give dogs purpose. He showed me that like humans, He gave dogs purpose to complete jobs, serve well and bring joy to us. He asked me why I thought we had purpose. The only answer I had was to do His work on Earth and to reach people. He told me that I was correct in my thinking but that our purpose doesn’t end when our lives end. I was dumbfounded. It never once dawned on me that we would have purpose after our lives end on Earth. Maybe I thought we’d just be face down worshiping Him or maybe I thought we’d be singing and jumping with joy. While I think we will be doing that, we’ll be doing much more. In the gentlest way He told me that our work here is simply a training ground for our work in Heaven. Our life purpose and spiritual gifts are for His Kingdom’s purpose. We will operate as who He created us to be in a realm without selfishness, sin, trial or tribulation. We continue to use our gifting for His glory and live our eternal lives in a realm of light and love with a Father that longs for us. We get to do good, fulfilling, rewarding and lasting work for the Most High God.

 

It’s exciting to me that we get to bring His Kingdom to Earth by inviting Jesus into our hearts, but it’s more exciting to me that we get to operate in our gifting and passion without the distractions of a fallen world after our time on this Earth. It’s quite motivating to know that He cares about our purpose, not only to do His work here, but to continue our work with Him. It’s encouraging to know that our life’s work doesn’t die when our bodies die. For me, it puts things in perspective as to what really matters in life. The only things we take with us when we die is our relationship with God, the love shared between us and our commitment to serving Him for eternity.

If you’re unsure about why God created you and what He wants you to do, please take a moment to ask Him. Ask Him what your purpose is, make time to have a relationship with Him and open your heart to His overwhelming, all-consuming love. It’ll be worth it, I promise.