Devotionals for the Heart: Shellie's thoughts on science and Heaven

When We All Get to Heaven
A devotional by Shellie Arnold

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 
~Revelation 21:4 (NIV)

My husband, Stephen, loves science. Science, astronomy, nature—they all point him to God. For Stephen, watching the stars is a spiritual experience. They provoke him to worship.

So, you’d think I’d support that, wouldn’t you? My husband learning about science, nature, the stars, details about God’s creation. The problem is, he usually shares these facts when I’m trying to go to sleep. And I don’t care. Because I want to go to sleep.

One time he was trying to explain to me that scientists had recently stumbled onto a new fact—I don’t even know what the fact was—that pointed to (wait for it) the possibility of the creation of our world being the result of intelligent design. Stephen loves those kind of “discoveries.”

But I was irritated. I wanted to go to sleep, but he kept talking.

And mean Shellie came out. She doesn’t appear very often, but this time, she did. I sat up in bed, and I said: “You know what? When we get to heaven, God is going to take all you science types into a big classroom. And He’s going to ask every one of you, ‘How do you think I did it?’ and you’re all going to have the wrong answer. Then He’s going to say, ‘This is how I did it." And you’re all going to say, ‘Wow, I never would have thought of that.’”

After having this particular conversation with Stephen—aside from being convicted and having to apologize for letting “mean Shellie” come out—I started thinking about heaven. And the older I get, the more difficult things I face, the more I think about it. Because sometimes what gets me through the week, or the day, or the moment, is focusing on heaven and what it will be like.

The above verse tells us there will be no tears in heaven—over tragedies, frustration, or rejection. Can you imagine?

There will be no death in Heaven. From cancer or Alzheimer’s or MS. There will be no more mourning in Heaven.

There is no more crying in Heaven—over disappointment or betrayal.

There will be no more pain in Heaven—emotional, physical, or otherwise. Everyone there will love God. Every touch will be right and honest and pure.

In Heaven, the old order of things will pass away. Pride will no longer cause discrimination. Power will no longer corrupt. Greed won’t exist. Shame won’t exist. Every beautiful thing we lost when Adam and Eve sinned will be restored.

You see, Heaven is the anti-thesis of all that is awful and painful here on earth. The complete opposite of everything that wounds and scars us.

It’s relief. Blissful, permanent relief.

When life throws things you didn’t expect at you, remember heaven with all its promise. You can make it through this—you can, with God’s help and strength—because on the other side, all of the things that made this side so difficult will be gone.

The One thing that will be the same, is Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Our lives on this earth are merely a taste of what being close to God will be like. Because finally, finally there will be no barriers between us. We will see Jesus. We can touch Him and feel His scarred hands cup our face. We can look into His eyes and find Heaven.

Don’t give up when life kicks the breath out of you or when one (or more) of these insidious things that inhabit our world happens to you.

Because for you and me, Heaven is just around the corner!

~*~
Author Bio: 

Shellie Arnold is a writer and speaker on marriage and family. She truly believes—despite baggage, neglect, or mistakes—if a husband and wife listen to God, they can live happily ever after. Her passion is sharing how God is helping her do exactly that.

She maintains a blog at www.shelliearnold.com and is the founder of YOUR MARRIAGE resources.

Shellie is a mother of three and has home-schooled for over twenty years. She lives in Ohio with her husband of thirty-one years.

~*~
Connect with Shellie:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/shellie.arnold.7
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ShellieArnold1
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ShellieLArnold/
Website - www.shelliearnold.com

Book Review about friendships between women

Book: Messy Beautiful Friendship: Finding and Nurturing Deep and Lasting Relationships
Author: Christine Hoover
Reviewed by: Alexis A. Goring

In her book, Messy Beautiful Friendship, Christine Hoover tackles the topic of friendship between women.

She doesn’t hold back in her exhortation and encouragement for women who have struggled to find and nurture deep, lasting relationships. The author shares scenes from her personal life story and points out her flaws. Yet her tone is not critical. She writes with wisdom, care and finesse. Her tone is kind and comforting yet at times a bit forthcoming but for good reason.

It is obvious that the author has learned life lessons and she wants to save the reader the heartache that comes when you don’t have a close, honest and open friendship with another woman. She makes a clear case that no matter what stage of life a woman is in, she needs women friends who speak her language and can uplift her heart. The value of a friend who understands you and isn’t afraid to point out what you need to work on is priceless.

Hoover doesn’t leave her readers clueless. She provides sound advice in each chapter as to how to find and nurture deep relationships with other women that last. She shares strategies to help women overcome the roadblocks that stand in their way to having true, reliable friends. She addresses the issues of insecurity and isolation. The author does a great job of letting the reader know that she is not alone. She opens the readers’ eyes with her “biblical vision for friendship” that, if applied, will reap great benefits.

This book is divided into five parts:

#1: A New Vision for Friendship

#2: Threats to Friendship

#3: Discovering and Deepening Friendship

#4: Being a Friend

#5: Receiving Friendship

The real-life scenarios in each of these five parts of Hoover’s book are written in a way that’s engaging and encourages empathy. She talks about how the struggle to find good friends gets harder when you get older but shows the reader how it is still possible to have your dreams come true for friendships that stand the test of time, with God’s help. God is part of the picture in this book. The author reveals to the reader how faith in God plays a key role in finding and keeping friendships that are godly and good for you.

Hoover accomplishes her goals in this book page by page. Her writing style is friendly and warm. Her stories are relatable and applicable to the modern woman. This entire book is wonderful and inspirational.

As a reader, I now feel motivated to invest in finding and nurturing friendships with women that last for a lifetime.

*Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksbloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html

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