What is Heaven Like?

(Part one in a series)

Grappling with a Loved-Ones Death

When my dad died, quite a few years ago now, I was deeply traumatized at his passing. Although a good provider, my relationship with him was pretty crummy. As a teen I was a rebellious creature, and as an adult I committed what was a terrible act in his mind: I became a born again believer! That was worse than mere teen angst by far!. Our relationship really soured after that.

I prayed for my dad for many years. The more I prayed, the more hostile he became to my new faith. Then he got cancer. It was a sad and tragic time for the whole family, but as he lay in critical care after surgery one cold and frightening day, he prayed with me. He repented of his sin and asked Jesus to come into his life.

My father was only coherent for another month after that, before succumbing to the cancers bitter hold and leaving this earth for whatever lay beyond.

What did lie beyond? I wondered about heaven. It seemed so much closer now that someone I knew and loved had stepped into that place. Or… had he? Could that death-bed conversion be just a desperate get-out-of-hell-free trick?

The Dream

Then my five year old had a dream. Little Grace was sad she never got to say “Good-bye” to her grandpa, but she woke up one morning shortly after his death and told us she had seen her grandpa. “He was in heaven,” she told us in her matter-of-fact childish chortle. “I saw him go into a store. There were stores all along the walls in heaven…” She grabbed at the cereal box and milk as she continued. “But you don’t have to buy anything in heaven. You go into the stores and it’s free.”

“Weird,” I was thinking. “The silly imagination of a five year old.” Yet... I mused. The Bible did mention walls in heaven…

Then Grace said something that came straight out of the book of Revelation. “Did you know there are really pretty stones in the walls of heaven? You can take the stones out and look at them. Then you put them back.”

Grace went back to contentedly slurping milk while studying Tucan Sam’s picture. I was left to ponder these quirky, childish statements.

I searched my Bible and read: Revelation 21:19-21:

The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacynth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass

Could my young daughter have been given a scene from Heaven? I know she had prayed and asked God to let her say “Good-bye” to her grandpa. Was this an answer to her prayer?

The Vision

I soon forgot about Graces dream, but I remained in my own turmoil after my Dad was gone. There had been a lot of difficult family decisions while my father lay helpless on life support. The hospital had not wanted to take out the tracheal tube for fear my fathers inability to breathe would result in his death, and we would sue. They said we could ask that no more food be administered through the feeding tube, and we had agreed to that. Together we had reasoned it was better to do so than prolong this torturous death. In the end, the hospital did allow the tracheal tube to be removed, and my father died with my mother and sister at his side. But they told me he had cried.

Had we made the wrong decision? This thought plagued me over and over as the months went by.

I was about to have my own heavenly insight.

I was at a prayer meeting. As six or so of my church friends gathered in a living room, I knelt on the floor. Suddenly I was “in the spirit” as John the apostle said in Revelation 1:10. I knew I was being escorted by an angel, although I did not see the angel. I was simply aware that I was being taken somewhere. Huge doors opened up before me and I entered into a large room, busy and active with feasting and laughter. I was taken directly to my father.

He turned from his dinner and looked up at me. No longer did he have the nearly-bald head brought on by chemotherapy, but a rich, full head of dark hair. He seemed so much younger, too. He was so happy to see me, and I knew he longed to tell me all about his experiences in this place beyond the grave. He tried to form the words, but was overcome with emotion.

“Thank-you…” was all that would come out.

Again he wrestled with his emotions, struggling to tell me all about heaven, but again he could only say “Thank-you.”

I knew then that all that mattered to my father was that he had made it to the eternal home of the saints. He knew what difficulty he had given us in our many attempts to see him converted. He knew my mother and I had prayed for his soul for many years. He knew I had rushed alongside his hospital bed to insist he consider the consequences of passing on without accepting the Lord’s gift of salvation. The life and death decisions of earth did not matter anymore. What mattered was… he had made it home.

The angel led me away. The great doors opened unassisted before me, and I was back in the living room.

Glimpses of Glory

Since that time, I have been curious about others experiences when it comes to glimpsing heaven. It even seems that God has helped me “see” heaven through others stories. Once, a good friend gave me a book by a man named Richard Sigmund. In the book, “A Place Called Heaven,” Sigmund recounts his stroll through heaven with the Lord after a tragic car accident. Another time I happened across a book, “My Descent into Death” at a garage sale by Howard Storm, an atheist who told his story about drawing close to hell before the Lord rescues him and reveals Himself. Recently the book “90 Minuets in Heaven” by John Piper has become a best seller.

Is this unexpected? In the Bible a number of prophets saw a portion of the divine kingdom: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, and of course, John. I am convinced God is so eager to unwrap the gift that is our eternal destination; He occasionally lets someone peek in the door so we can be excited with Him! These “visions” serve as encouragements and as warnings, if we take them to heart.

I want to share some of these eye witness stories, together with what the scripture teaches, in my next two Hub posts:

A Place Called Heaven

Between Heaven and Hell