We've Been Robbed!

The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance. John 10:10 (The Voice)

My mind raced with all the devastating scenarios it could quickly and effortlessly muster.

Unchecked with reality, it conjured up a catastrophic end as I sat in that infusion chair for the very first time. As the medication started to fill and flow through my veins, fear filled and flowed through my mind. I was so fixed on what was happening in my body and in that room I couldn't see beyond that moment. A better future seemed doubtful because of my present.

Last Friday, I received my eighth infusion and, although I still hate infusion days, I have learned to view these days, as well as the medication I receive, as provisions from God because I know He has a plan for my life.

Satan, who is like that thief in John 10:10, doesn't want me to have this view. He wants me right where he had me that first infusion day– scared and full of doubt that God has something better for me.

That's right where he wants us too when it comes to thinking about and longing for Heaven.

Satan, Hebrew for "adversary," is the father of lies and his native language is lies (John 8:44). As our adversary he desires nothing more than to distract, deceive, and destroy us.

Randy Alcorn, in his book Heaven, states, "Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we'll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we'll set our minds on this life and not the next..."

In deceiving us, Satan doesn't win his battle against us. He wins his battle against God.

Satan, who believes he is greater than God, desires only one thing – to keep us from God. And what better way to keep us from God than to convince us that this life is better than the next by robbing us of our joy in and anticipation of Heaven?

The Bible doesn't tell us everything about Heaven, but it certainly tells us some things.

Alcorn says, "That's why I believe God has given us glimpses of Heaven in the Bible–to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts." Put another way, these glimpses are confirmation that Heaven is real and an invitation to step into that reality now as we await the recreation of Earth and Heaven (Revelation 12:1).

Are you beginning to see that perhaps the reason some of us aren't looking forward to Heaven as much as we are next week's tailgate party is because we haven't accepted God's invitation to step into the reality of Heaven? We have unknowingly accepted the deception of our adversary that this life is better, perhaps because it is known.

Friend, Heaven isn't unknown. It's all the details of Heaven that are unknown.

Satan desires to keep us from what is known–Heaven–and he is using the unknown to distract, deceive, and ultimately destroy us.

Did I need to have all the details of exactly how that medication would work in my body in order to agree to receiving it? No, I only needed to know that studies showed overwhelming evidence that it delayed the progression of MS and in some cases even improved symptoms.

Was I still scared of the possible side effects? Yes!

Did I just have to make the decsion to trust God and do I still sometimes doubt choosing a DMT was the right choice? Yes and yes!

Likewise, we don't need all the details of Heaven to desire it and we can and will have some uncertainty about it at times. What we must do though, is trust that God has given us all we need to know about it now and look forward to the full revelation of Heaven at the appointed time.

C.S. Lewis once said, "Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you get neither."

The choice is ours.

Don't get robbed.