what happens next?

I am torn between two existences. (phil 1:23-24)

Life on earth is a mystery to me; though God uses this place to bring us to Himself, we are somehow to keep some kind of distance from it all while anticipating a heavenly existence none of us have felt or seen.

It would be one thing if earth was a barren wasteland of unhappiness, but this isn't the world we find ourselves in. There is good within it (Gen 1). It's on this planet that we find love, help others, learn skills, work hard. These are all things that God has deemed "good." Yet, in the process of all these things (if we're honest), isn't there some sort of fondness or attachment that results? An attachment that death will most certainly sever for eternity?

I want to see through Paul's eyes, and gain that eternal perspective. For me, it can become difficult to step back, look at the life I've lived and the people in it, and think of leaving it behind. God has used so many physical things to bring me to Himself. I have to be careful not to love these physical things more than the God that exists through them.

I have to trust that a God good enough to provide these earthly things understands my needs. Not only in this life, but in the one to come. There have been countless exaggerations, interpretations, and wishful thoughts concerning heaven...so much so that I'm not even sure what to believe about it. Besides eternal security, (John 3:16) I'm not sure about anything.


Maybe I simply haven't lived long enough. Perhaps I haven't spent enough time on this earth to fully understand its shortcomings. But in the midst of so many opinions about the next life, it seems the only one worth listening to, and the only concept worth digesting, is the one promising a life void of sin and pain.

I'm looking forward to that.