Will You be Surprised?
Today’s devotional was written by my son, Clark Wrather, while he was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. The church at that time was building a family life center with additional classroom space. Clark was called to be the pastor of First Baptist Church of Yukon, Oklahoma in July 2012.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…. – Ephesians 3:20.
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. – Revelation 21:2.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” – Revelation 21:3.
If you have driven by the church lately, you may have noticed a few changes to the grassy area. Actually, it should probably not be called the grassy area any longer. The grass has mostly been removed. A section of the chain link fence has been taken away. A large strip of the sidewalk next to the Fellowship Hall has been eradicated. The bell tower has disappeared as well.
I imagine that many of you had thoughts similar to my own when I first saw what had happened in the grassy area. I thought, I can’t believe it! They are actually doing something! The builders are getting started on our new building! You could summarize my general feeling as one of surprise.
If you were surprised, like me, that the first initial stages of construction had begun, why were you? We have known it was going to happen for several weeks. We have been preparing for our new building for several years. We prayed, planned, worked through our problems with the city, worked with an architect, raised money, accepted bids, and took pledges. Yet when things seem to be getting started, we are surprised.
I think Heaven is going to be very similar. We spend our lives preparing ourselves to be there. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, you know that you will be in Heaven some day. You know that it is going to happen. You know that there is no person or power that can keep you from going.
We have an idea of what Heaven will be like from the Bible, but most of us will be surprised by what Heaven is like. We will be surprised to be standing before the throne of God. We will be surprised by some of the people that made it. Sure, we know these things will happen in an abstract way, but when we experience them first hand, we will be surprised.
(The surprising nature of Heaven.)