Everything God does is with eternity in mind. When God says in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”, he’s not just referring to your future later this year or 10 years from now. Yes, that’s covered, and yes God cares about what happens next in your life, but his plans for you stretch into eternity.
And here’s a thought for you to entertain today … what if this life is preparation for the reveal of his ultimate good plans for your future. Your future that lasts forever. Your future that is absolute perfection.
Earlier this week, my friend Jody sent me a paragraph from her current read. I’ve reread this paragraph a dozen times, and each time it sparks my Spirit. It says:
“When we look back on our earthly lives, we will see that God was moving and guiding, teaching and molding, preparing us for eternity … where we will be doing the unique things that we were designed to do when we were in God’s mind before he created us.”
Heaven gives us a higher perspective on life. A view that shows us how each piece fit perfectly together. Much like the view from your airplane window shows you how the city streets loop and connect, stretch and reach, and eventually become a single road across the countryside. Could this be how we will see our lives on the other side?
And will we see that single road we become stretching into eternity is a result of all the tangled mess of other roads we have traveled? It all led us to our destiny. Our destiny of purpose.
I’m going to be honest with you and tell you I’ve always had a problem with the whole “RIP” thing. Rest in Peace. That doesn’t sound all that thrilling to me. That gives me nothing to look forward to. I don’t just want to rest … I want to live. I want to live on a whole new level, forever.
After this life, we will be going home to be with Jesus, and y’all, I don’t think Jesus is boring. Therefore, I don’t think his home will be boring either. We won’t be just sitting around on our hands, doing a whole bunch of nothing, knowing every day is just another day of never ending days. Blahhhhhh. While here on earth, Jesus went to the wedding party and he made the wine! Jesus built campfires on the shore, he went fishing, played in the rain, and even water skied (without the need for skis). I have a feeling stepping into Jesus’ house is going to be the greatest adventure you and I could ever dream of.
And what if, just what if, the purpose which God began in us doesn’t end with our time here on Earth, but it continues in eternity. What if the tangled mess of roads we’re on today trying to find our way and figure this all out, is for the purpose of putting us on that divine road that continues forever. What if what you’re doing today, how you’re growing now, and what you’re getting better and better at, is preparation for your eternal purpose?
When God says he has plans for your future, wouldn’t he be talking about your tomorrow, your 10 years from now, and your eternity? It wouldn’t just end. Everything God does is for eternal purposes and it’s all connected. Your funeral is not the retirement from your purpose, it is your promotion to next level purposing.
Philippians 1:6 says “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” We read that like a finish line. Okay, your life is done, the work is done. God’s work in you is complete. End of story. But why? Why would God put all this effort into making you who he envisioned you to be if that’s it? Like finally your life’s work is now complete, you can die, you’re done. NO! No, there’s so much more. This was all a work of perfecting your life purpose for eternity, meaning there’s a purpose for you in Heaven!
It doesn’t just end, no it continues … forever … and it’s perfect! It’s every desire of your heart being totally and completely fulfilled in absolute perfection. This life has been about perfecting the work through experience, growth and practice. When God sees the work is perfected, then you are promoted to that next level of purposing … eternally!
My Daddy was a custom home builder. The smell of fresh cut 2×4’s is the scent of my Daddy. On his final night of life, when the veil between heaven and earth had grown so thin, I overheard him talking to God about a building project. He was getting the specifics of what he was to build. The next day, his life here on Earth was complete. He didn’t go from life to death … No, he went from life (little l) to Life (capital L). Life next level. Life eternal. Life where the purposes for which he was created will continue in absolute perfection. What do I think my Daddy is doing in Heaven? Well, I think he’s building the mansions Jesus told us about in John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”
I think about my best friend Catina who’s purposes here on earth were made perfect at 34 years old, and now she’s in the eternal bliss of Heaven living out those purposes on the next level. What was she made for? What did she do so well? Oh no doubt, that girl is on Heaven’s welcome committee. She will be one of the first glorious faces you see when you walk through the pearly gates. She will make you feel like she’s been waiting forever just to see YOU. She will be blasting the music, handing out party favors, and making a big deal out of your arrival. It’s what she did here on Earth as her God given gift, and I believe that purpose continues in Heaven.
My Grandma and my husband’s Grandma must be in charge of your first meal in Heaven. That was their gifting. It was what they did with perfection in this life. My Grandma’s meatballs and potatoes, his Grandma’s homemade biscuits and jelly, and maybe even your Grandma’s specialty. God purposed it all along, maybe!
And that leaves us to wonder what the windy, twisted roads of our own lives become when, with the perspective of eternity, we rise above chaos and see how it all becomes one road stretching into forever. And that one road is the divine purpose for which we were created. A purpose which doesn’t just end here with our final day, but continues forever at home with Jesus. Why would it continue? Because God WANTED what you have to bring. He wanted it here on Earth, and he wants it in Paradise!
God’s working in each of us to perfect the purpose for which we were created. Every day of our lives he’s been showing us how to walk in the plans he had for us before the beginning of time. And when his plans are completed here, we will go from life (little l) to Life (capital L), and fulfill our divine purposes in Paradise forever. Totally fulfilled, walking in the perfection of our divine purpose, knowing our place, loving our place, and seeing every desire of our heart unfold.
Me? Well, I’ve been given a glimpse of how the roads I’ve traveled have narrowed down to one. I see my purpose unfolding through my experiences, my gifting, and my desires. And I now see how I’m being perfectly prepared for that purpose to continue in eternity. I’ll be leading the adventure day trips in Heaven. Yip, I’ll be your tour guide in Paradise. All the things you want to do, I’ll take you to do them, and girl, we are going to have a blast! Here on Earth I provide the adventure of a lifetime … in Heaven, I’ll be providing the adventure of eternity! And of course, I’ll bring the matching shirts!
May you think about your own life’s purposes and how maybe, just maybe, they are for your BIG Life’s purpose (capital L). Your forever purpose. Your eternal destiny of fulfillment. All of this is leading you to something greater than you can possibly imagine and you have an active role to play. Start dreaming of what that might be. There’s a perfect place for you as God’s chosen girl with a divine destiny in his forever.
With all of this in mind, let’s read that paragraph one more time, now seeing the winding and twisting roads of our lives from a higher perspective leading somewhere intentional, on a road through eternity.
“When we look back on our earthly lives, we will see that God was moving and guiding, teaching and molding, preparing us for eternity … where we will be doing the unique things that we were designed to do when we were in God’s mind before he created us.”
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