Sneak Peeks into a New Life
She moved around the room with her hand-held camera snapping photo after photo, capturing every angle she could. I took my kids down to a professional photographer for some ‘fun’ photo’s to capture this time and place in our lives. It’s the new thing, I guess, they edit their shots and put them on a cd so you can upload them at home or photo lab. The really fun part about it is you get to have a ‘sneak peek’. The photographer uploads a couple of shots up on her blog, and this fills us with the anticipation of what is to come.
~~~~~~~~~ http://hotcocoaphoto.blogspot.com/~~~~~~~~~
Now, when I hear about a ‘Lazarus’ experience, I have the tendency to think of it as a ‘sneak peek’ into Heaven. As if God has this eternal blog for us to read and interpret what is to come.
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The moment I met this kid, I knew. I knew he’d change my perception of eternity. I don’t know why, he wasn’t overly assuming in posture, didn’t exhibit special intelligence, but it was the way he treated people. He would swear and cuss every other word, yet somehow, in his own way, made the people in his life feel valued. He said words like ‘thank you’ and asked questions.
One day, he looked at me… maybe it was ‘TO’ me… and said this mind altering sentence. “I don’t believe in God.” I’ve often wondered what made him say this to me, but what I do know, for some reason, this really great kid was serious. He had obviously been through a lot, and I had to assume he was looking for a response of some kind, so I asked, “why?”
I am guilty of surrounding myself with christians in my daily life. I love to hear heart-warming stories about people being ‘saved’… but what this kid had to share would be a cancer in mind from that day forward. You see, he died. He was in a very serious car accident and stopped breathing on the roadside while waiting for emergency services to show up. He literally had body parts slayed out next to him.
He died.
I’d like to go on about bright white lights, beautiful sounding choirs and images of friends and family who had already passed, but for this kid… nothing… Now, I believe in God. I believe He is faithful and follows through on his promises and I believe that He has marked a place we would call Heaven for each of us. But…
What do we do with a story such as this?
Everything about it is contrary to what I believe… or want to believe. Do I ‘unlearn’ all that I know of death? I’ve been on a ‘death bed’ and know that I can’t do this. I can’t throw away that awestruck wonder I feel when I witness something that can only come from God. I can’t ignore the hope I feel that in the promises kept by God are also promises yet to be fulfilled. so….
with that, I gotta say, I believe this kid.
I really do think he experienced nothingness on the side of that road. However, I must say I wonder what God did here. God works in all of us, believer’s or not, yet this actually pretty good kid was merely a product of his environment, an environment God made, yet was denied a sneak peek at heaven. Why? …and is it wrong to wonder?
I’m left to believe that some day, in some way, the fact that our paths have crossed will not be in vain. This experience has strengthened MY Faith, rather than fill my thoughts with doubt. I know what it means for me… at least in this moment… but what is the adequate response? Thank you God, for this gift of Faith…. now what?
ok, for some reason this published and right now wp won’t let me into ‘edit’… so apologies in advance for all the grammatical mistakes… at least until I can get in there to edit! Lol!!! : ) ~Cindy
I understood it as it is–but perhaps you’ve had opportunity to edit.
Do you really think God gave him the environment that wasn’t so great? I don’t. Many aspects of our history are not from God but from the reality of living in a fallen world. And I don’t know why he experienced nothing, but again, something blocked God’s grace for him.
Personally, I don’t know what to think of many after-death experiences. People who aren’t Christians share some fantastic and wonderful after-death experiences, too.
But faith is still what it’s all about. Faith that becomes hope–not hope as in wishing but hope as in confidence–because God is true to His Word. But it begins with a choice of faith. We choose to believe or not believe. And that choice will be tested.
Ha! Solveig! There were just a few hyphen changes, often my weak point!!! and no, I don’t expect God provided the road blocks in his child life environment… point well made… Your third point, about non christian after-death experiences hits my thoughts on their head… why some and not others??? well, and christians too for that matter… and.. the fourth point on Faith, you will know more than I do where this comes from, but doesn’t it say Faith is a gift? where is the line drawn between what God does for us, and what we do in response to God’s Love?
these are actual questions…
Because I was an agnostic/atheist, I’ve always believed agnostics/atheists are the easiest to win to Jesus. Why? Because they only need proof. You don’t have to pile scripture upon scripture to win them. They just need proof.
So, while I’m talking to an agnostic/atheist, I’m inwardly asking God what I can do to offer the person proof. I expect the Lord to reveal a plan. Sometimes it’s prayer, a gift of the Holy Spirit, testimony or whatever. But it’s always tailored to the individual’s need by the Lord.
One of my favorite stories was a college kid in a laundromat who majored in philosophy. Somehow, a boldness came over me and I said, “I can prove there’s a God, right here and right now.”
Of course, he said, “Okay, prove it.”
I laid my hands on him and asked the Holy Spirit to prove He was real. The Holy Spirit almost knocked the young man down. He stumbled around trying to regain his balanced. He asked, “How’d you do that?”
“Jesus is alive, isn’t He?”
“I’ll have to think about this,” he said as he left.
Once an atheist/agnostic has an experience with God, their arguments lessen.
Great points, Larry. My history of evoking the Spirit of God is lacking, however, at least not on purpose.
I, too, am overwhelmed by Larry’s ability to move in the Holy Spirit–and also have to confess that I was an agnostic. Although raised in a Christian home, I didn’t meet God personally and got into scary territory as a young adult after reading Thomas Hardy novels and dabbling in philosophy. But I wanted faith. I prayed to receive faith. Finally, Ken told me Moody prayed for faith and didn’t get it–then someone told him to read the Bible because “faith comes from hearing.” (Rom. 10:17) So I began reading the Bible. It took over two years before I knew God wanted to move in my life–that He was more than ready to receive me–but, strange as it may seem, I continued to struggled to consistently believe for several more years.
One of the things I learned (my experience only) is that I don’t tell God how to reveal Himself. When I do, He never comes through. Then, when I least expect it, He’s there–makes Himself very plain. And after more years, He began to occasionally tell me to claim things–speak His will. Not quite as boldly as Larry, but in a similar fashion. Perhaps it’s just that I’m willful and it would be dangerous. There’s been a lot of refining and a lot more to come. But I know, should your young friend honestly give God a chance, God would be there to meet Him. We come to him uniquely according to our need–and He meets us uniquely.
Anyway, my word for your young friend? Pray that he would desire God–that he would see something that would make faith a good thing. Faith is a gift–but we have to want it. Disappointment might turn us away, but prayer can bring something back to life. Hope this helps.