Almost Heaven
by Bruce W. Durbin
(copyright 2002)
Are we there yet? How much longer?
As a young boy, my parents would often load everyone into the family car and prepare for a trip to my grandparent's farm. Living in the city, a visit to the wide-open spaces of the farm would always fill my brothers and me with a great deal of excitement, as it represented the opportunity
to run through the fields, explore the old farm machinery that laid half-buried in weeds, moo at the cows, climb trees, and walk the ditch banks.
Not only were there fields, barns, and trees to explore, but my grandmother would always ensure that dinner was followed by fresh baked pie and ice cream. With all of these things waiting for us and the impatience of being a child, before the car was even out of the driveway, someone would invariably ask, "Are we there yet?" Either my father or mother would patiently respond, "We're almost there", and, "It won't be much longer." To occupy our young minds, my parents would encourage us to play games, such as identifying the crops in the fields, trying to be the first to spot those infamous Volkswagen beetles, and making the sounds of barnyard animals. We would also sing choruses, which probably made my parents desire a better radio.
We would survive the bumps in the road, the heat in the summer, and the cold in the winter, to finally arrive at my grandparent's farm, where the journey would be quickly forgotten, as we began to enjoy ourselves.
John 14:2-3 states:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you....I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also."
When we become Christians, we embark on a journey that ultimately ends in Heaven, where we will spend eternity in fellowship with God. As we walk this earth, the bumps in the road often appear as the loss of loved ones, financial difficulties, physical ailments, and other trials that
are common to both the Christian and non-Christian.
As Christians, our journey through this life is also filled with bumps that assume the form of struggle against immorality, persecution, and other trials that result from following God. When we encounter the "bumps" in this life and it seems as though there is no end, there is often the tendency to raise our voices, in prayer and as children, to God and ask, "Are we there yet?"
Relevation 7:17 reassures:
"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Whether our trip to Heaven takes us 20 years or 40 years or 80 years, as Christians, we have the assurance that God won't wipe away just some tears, but He'll wipe away ALL tears.
Heaven. There will be no tears, only joy. There will be no pain, only peace.
As we face obstacles, trials, and tests in this life, there is always the hope that we're almost to our goal; we're almost to Heaven.
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Bruce W. Durbin is a freelance writer, whose articles have featured on many Christian online publications. He is also the author of Almost Heaven and Almost Hell (www.iuniverse.com and
