Hope When the Tent Folds
They say death travels in three’s.
This week, I’ve learned of the passing of three people, two of whom attended my church of eleven years, and died well before a ripe old age. The other was the father of a friend. If there were three deaths in my world, I wonder what tragedies you’ve faced recently.
I want to encourage you. For Christians, death is not the end.
It is the beginning of a glorious adventure as we enter the visible presence of God.
2 Corinthians 5:1 says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
God is waiting for us with the keys to a beautiful condo in Heaven!
I remember when my father-in-law passed away. I had never seen a person move from this life into the next. It was as if his spirit left his earthly tent before my eyes. I remember it being a peaceful transition despite his tumultuous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Perhaps you have recently watched a loved one or friend go through suffering before finally moving on to eternal rest.
Before we see Heaven’s entry gate, life in our earthly tent can be hard, right?
Our tents weather the battering of the elements of life and are beaten down and tossed around. Sometimes we think our tent will collapse because of illness, financial problems or other trials, but then miraculously, the storm passes and our tent is still standing, for a time.
I have always believed life is nothing but a boot camp to purify us for eternal life with a Holy God.
It’s the dress rehearsal before the actual performance.
As the early Christians faced persecution and martyrdom, something Christians still face today, the apostle Peter asked them to focus on a hope beyond their situation, the inheritance waiting for them in Heaven that doesn’t perish, spoil or fade. “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Take heart. If your loved ones went through a difficult season before passing on, they entered the Lord’s presence as a brilliant polished vessel, refined by fire, and Jesus is waiting for them with a reward for their perseverance.
Their temporary tent may be folded, but their new housing is indescribable and worth all they endured on this Earth. No one knows better than Jesus, who also discarded his earthly tent after paying the ultimate, painful price on the cross. He he did it for us so we could move into his neighborhood one day and live in his presence forever. (LBW)