by Mary C Neal
We’ll come back to the task of writing out and examining your life story, but first, let me give you three examples of where and how the presence of God often shows up.
THREE EXAMPLES
Seeing God in your disappointment or failure. Most of us have experienced an event that seemed like a great disappointment—even a disaster—at the time but proved to be a blessing later on. From our limited perspective, we often see only what didn’t go as we planned and only gain clarity with the benefit of time. We look back months, years, or even decades later and say, “I couldn’t see it at the time, but that was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
What appears to be a waste of time and effort can sometimes bear fruit years later. At other times, failure shows us we are traveling toward a dead end, and we are forced to redirect our course.
You might remember the story of Charles Colson, who plummeted from the heights of power to the depths of disgrace in the 1970s. Or so it seemed. Going to prison often feels like the ultimate failure, but the experience can also ignite transformation. It did for Colson. Once the special counsel to President Nixon, he was sent to prison for obstruction of justice on Watergate-related charges. As time passed, he found himself “increasingly drawn to the idea that God had put me in prison for a purpose and that I should do something for those I would leave behind.” After his release, he founded Prison Fellowship, a Christian ministry that has become the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families.1
Seeing God in synchronicities. Did you know that there is not even a word for coincidence in Hebrew? The only equivalent is the word mikreh, meaning “a happening from God.” Once you develop trust in God’s promise of presence, you will believe as I do, that there is no such thing as a “meaningful coincidence,” but there are many happenings from God.
As you look back, did you see or feel anything when a loved one died? Did an unexpected visitor leave you feeling mysteriously renewed and refreshed? Can you identify a time when you stepped out in faith only to be surprised at how your path was made straight and you flourished in the process?
Just as you asked your friends about their struggles, their experiences with miracles and angels, coincidences and synchronicities in the previous chapter, do the same of yourself now. We all experience synchronous events—“happenings from God”—that seem to be meaningfully related.
One day I could not stop thinking about my friend Cindy, whom I hadn’t spoken with for a while. Rather than ignore this persistent thought, I picked up the phone and dialed. How could I have known that she had just been admitted to the hospital and was thinking of me at that very moment? For her, the synchronicity of my phone call became a source of comfort and encouragement. For me it was yet another reminder of the unshakable presence of God’s grace. If we’re faithful with small things, heaven breaks through for ourselves and others. We are doorkeepers.
Seeing God in closed doors. Life abounds with stories of times when the destinations we set for ourselves aren’t where we wind up at all—thank God! So many things we wish for and work toward never come to fruition, and at the time we are severely disappointed. The door has slammed in our face. But in time we see that a different—and much better—door opened up. And as the new door opened up, so did wonderful opportunities to grow and flourish. As written in Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
He had been an award-winning jazz singer, but Willie Jolley was stunned and devastated one evening when, out of the blue, the owner of the nightclub where he performed regularly replaced him with a karaoke machine. With only $200 in his pocket, Jolley took a job with a drug-prevention program for at-risk youths. One of his new responsibilities was to give uplifting and motivational speeches to these kids, something for which he felt unprepared. As he observed the impact of his speaking, however, he discovered a previously hidden talent. In the twenty years since, Jolley has become a highly successful motivational speaker and author, perhaps best known for his declaration, “a setback is a setup for a comeback.”2, 3
EVIDENCE OF THE UNSEEN
This chapter asked you to create a written chronology of your life, then begin to look for evidence of heaven there. The following action and reflection questions will help you dig deeper into your story.
Consider making your review an ongoing process. For example, when you’ve done the work of excavation—unearthing clues in your past to God’s ever-present hand in your life—set your journal aside for a few months. Let what you’ve learned percolate through your understanding. Then, when you’re ready, pick up pen and paper again and dig some more.
As you become an expert witness to the testimony of your own life, you will see clear evidence that God showed up in surprising ways and confirmed that his promises are true.
ACTIONS AND REFLECTION STEPS TO HELP YOU “LOOK WITHIN”
1. How did God’s presence and promises show up for you in the times described below? Include your answers in the written life story you began with this chapter.
• Times of disappointment or failure
• Times when you noticed synchronicities
• Times when a closed door opened others
• Times of celebrating a life passage—e.g., christening, baptism, graduation, wedding, birth, memorial service
• Times of sorrow, pain, or loss
• Times of utter joy
• Times when you were confronted by great need or suffering in another person
2. Finally, how would you summarize what looking closely at your life story has shown you?
Chapter 17
STEP 4: FORM A CONCLUSION
Reevaluating Your Hypothesis and Making a Choice
“We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.”
—THOMAS MERTON
Winston Churchill once said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” Hurrying off, so to speak, from our quest to become more heaven-conscious here on Earth would be such a waste. Even if what you uncovered doesn’t fit any preconceived notion or belief, even if you don’t know quite what to do with important evidence from your past, don’t rush off. You are standing on the threshold of a new way of living with God.
Step 4 in our quest to make heaven real in our life every day invites you to look at everything you have learned and apply it to your life. You have completed your personal investigation. Now it’s time to gather your findings, form a conclusion, and—with a clear picture of what you now know to be true—choose to act.
With your search now complete, arriving at a conclusion and making a choice should be straightforward, even simple. Yet it requires that you bring your whole self to the page.
I understand that moving from collecting evidence to making a choice can be daunting. At this point, your posture toward your search shifts. You began by being mostly objective even while you were looking deeply into your own life, but now your approach becomes entirely subjective. You are no longer a case study; you’re you, alive in the moment.
How will you allow what you’ve learned to change how you live now?
I can tell you from my own life that letting what we’ve learned from our spiritual experiences to change how we live takes more than collecting data. It takes courage. It requires commitment. You have to trust the sacredness of your own story as God gives you grace, and take the plunge. Put both feet in the boat.
GATHER YOUR FINDINGS
The truth is, now you have a lot to work with. Your journey began when you decided to follow my story—from that first powerful awareness underwater that I was safe in the embrace of Jesus to my return to my everyday life, and then through a careful exploration of what heaven teaches us about dying, miracles, angels, and God’s loving plan for each of us.
You’ve also looked deeply into your own life. You have in
spected the emotional and intellectual baggage that might be keeping you from opening your heart to absolute trust. You have looked around—at nature, history, corroborating stories from friends—and looked within to find the fingerprints of heaven on your life from the day you were born.
I firmly believe that any person who completes the faith-exploration exercise I’ve been describing will find convincing evidence of God’s presence in the world and in his or her own life. The faith born of this process provides a logical way to make sense of what we observe in the world.
What are your findings telling you—not just in your thoughts and conclusions, but in your whole and deepest being? I hope you’ve found yourself coming alive to the Spirit, to God’s insistent and loving presence throughout your life, and to the reality of God’s kingdom in the now. I hope you are looking at the world differently—beginning to see, as the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, that
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God…”
REVISIT YOUR HYPOTHESIS
To guide your search, I proposed at the outset that you create a simple, testable statement about God’s nature or his promises that you hoped would turn out to be true. This working hypothesis set the direction, the boundaries, and the end point of your search. Scientists use this approach all the time, of course, and for questions large and small. But I can’t think of a search where one would need the help of a hypothesis more than in ours, where we’re trying to find new insights in subject areas as vast and potentially elusive as God, heaven, and absolute trust!
I proposed something as simple as “God is real and present” or “God’s promises are true.” What hypothesis did you put to work for you, and how well has it held up during your search?
We can’t really move toward applying what we’ve learned until we make the conscious decision to accept, reject, or revise our original hypothesis. That is precisely what Josh McDowell did when he set out to write a book that would refute Christianity. In his classic book Evidence That Demands a Verdict, he writes, “After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most fantastic fact of history.”1
How might you revise or expand your original working premise, and why?
What is your new hypothesis?
FORM A CONCLUSION
Do you remember the encounter I had with Jesus in that beautiful field? I tried so hard to convey just how immediate, tangible, and convincing that conversation was for me.
I sat on the ground at one end of a long field. The field was filled with wild grasses gently swaying in a soft breeze. The entire area was bathed in the beautiful, golden glow of a late-afternoon sun. My arms rested comfortably on top of my knees. The ground beneath felt firm. The world around me glimmered with…what? Exhilaration! Yes, that’s what seemed to fill creation.
In that setting, I encountered the person of Jesus for the second time (my first encounter was underwater, as my life slipped away). I wrote that he was “utterly, inarguably known to me.”
I had no doubt it was Jesus and didn’t need to ask his name. Asking would be like seeing my husband in the grocery store and, before starting a conversation, asking, “Are you Bill?”
Certainty like that changes a person. You just know what you know! Do you understand what I’m saying? Over and over, it’s this kind of deep, almost physical conviction on which we hope to build our lives.
You probably know by now where your search has taken you, and whether or not you’re ready to reach a conclusion. On the spectrum of conviction, between “confirmed skeptic” on the one hand to a “true believer” on the other, where do you stand?
We all approach this kind of a serious inquiry differently. That’s why I asked earlier how much evidence, and what kind, you thought you would need to choose to trust God. I would describe the evidential path of this book as a combination of personal story (mostly mine), reports from other trustworthy sources, reliable texts, and medical and scientific data.
What evidence carries the most weight for you?
Materialists explain everything by physical causes, while rationalists believe that opinions should be based on reason and knowledge, rather than on religious belief or emotional response. A scientific rationalist—which I used to be—thinks scientific study and certainty in knowledge are the ultimate authority. They believe that with enough time, effort, and resources, everything can be explained by rational thought, rather than experience. And if it doesn’t reduce to a scientific certainty, then it’s probably not true and shouldn’t be trusted.
While I fully support a rigorous exploration of spiritual matters applying the scientific method, I have personally seen its limits. Some truths will always exist outside the realm of science and intellectual understanding. We might identify the specific portion of our brain that shows increased activity when we feel love or compassion, but we will never prove why we should love or what it feels like to be loved. Likewise, we might identify the neurotransmitters that evoke the experience of spirituality, but we’re not likely to learn from those neurons why they exist.
I have seen good people insist that somehow life or God must answer every question before they open their hearts. This may appear to be intellectual integrity at work, but in my experience, it is more often a tactical convenience for a person who fears change, and in the meantime is holding God hostage to a test He may never choose to take. All researchers proceed from the known into the unknown based on what they know or think they might know at the time. Turns out, every intellectual quest requires steps of faith.
Based on the evidence you have gathered, and the hypothesis you have tested and refined, what could you now reasonably conclude about God in the key areas we’ve been exploring? For example, in considering the hypotheses we proposed at the end of Chapter 14,
1. Can you conclude that God is real and present in your life and in the world?
2. Can you conclude that God’s promises are true?
If you’ve sincerely invested in this discovery process, you owe it to yourself to reflect patiently and deeply on your conclusions. Truly, almost everything of enduring consequence is at stake. As the beloved author A. W. Tozer famously declared, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”2
MAKE A COMMITMENT
I firmly believe that any person who completes the faith-exploration exercise I’ve been describing will find convincing evidence of God’s presence in the world and in his or her own life. The faith born of this process provides a logical way to make sense of what we observe in the world and empowers us to make a life-changing choice.
Regardless of the details, everyone chooses a set of beliefs, whether we acknowledge doing so or not. Who will we choose to believe, and whose voice will we choose to listen to? We can accept the misrepresentations of the dominant culture, or we can believe our personal experience with God.
The next and final step is yours to take. How you commit to living now with absolute trust that God loves you and His promises are true is up to you. You might write out your decision and keep it posted prominently in your life. You might want to share your decision with close friends and ask for their support in prayer. You might begin with a simple prayer of dedication like the example that follows.
Look back on your life from the perspective of heaven and make your choice. You’ll never regret it!
MY PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Almighty, loving, and eternal God,
Thank you for opening my eyes to heaven,
and to the truth that you are always good.
You open my eyes to your miracles, large and small.
You show me that I can trust you absolutely.
You comfort me that death is not to be feared, and that
> even in heartbreak and loss, beauty will blossom.
Now, keep me wide awake to the reality of heaven all around.
Renew my inner being so that I may live with joy,
serve others, and show your glory on Earth.
Lead me and guide me on the path you have prepared.
May your will be done today and always.
Amen.
Chapter 18
THE SWEETEST FRUIT ON EARTH
“Today is your day to dance lightly with life.
Sing wild songs of adventure.
Invite rainbows and butterflies out to play.
Soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.”
—JONATHAN LOCKWOOD HUIE
Whew! What a journey we have taken—from the depths of the river, to the glory of heaven, and back to the reality of daily life on Earth! Along the way, you have encountered the reasons I believe heaven and the supernatural are literally crowding in on our lives every day, even right now. We are not simply physical beings for whom “spiritual stuff” is a mere hope, a nice story, or a pleasing religious emotion. We are made for heaven, starting now. From birth, we are created to respond to the Spirit, to be touched by angels, to deeply long to live eternally with our loving God in the company of those we love.
My hope is that you have uncovered clear evidence from your own story to support this heaven-sized understanding. And based on your findings, I sincerely hope you have chosen to live with unshakable trust. If you find yourself even at the beginning of the trust transformation, I guarantee you are already experiencing a remarkable shift in your internal well-being—you have been surprised by joy.
