As the sun rose and hit last night’s snowfall, the neighborhood burst into beautiful sparkles. But by the time Jack and I walked to the beach mid-afternoon, the sun’s warmth had done away with most of the new snow. Nevertheless, I picked up pretty stones on the now-visible sand and was impressed with how many of them sparkled in the sun, some as impressive as geodes.
Then I noticed rows of tiny icicles hanging beneath pieces of driftwood left on the beach by winter storms. In the sun, these glistening beauties were like rows of glass thermometers with light dancing inside.
When we got home, sunshine through my windows was hitting a crystal piece of art my friend Julie had given me, splashing hundreds of bright rainbows all over the room. When I spun it, it was better than a crystal ball on New Year’s Eve!
The sparkling snow, the stones, mini-icicles and glass art all came to life when sunbeams hit them. Although each was attractive in its own right, when sunshine was added, they changed from ordinary to dazzling.
This same comparison can be made between Nate and me. I’m living an ordinary life here in Michigan, sleeping, waking, eating, doing all the everyday things. Nate is leading a life for which no word of description is good enough. Even “dazzling” doesn’t do it. It’s outside of our human thinking.
I studied the mini-rainbows on my walls and floors this afternoon, wondering if there will be rainbows in heaven, and if they’ll be even more spectacular than the ones I was looking at. In addition to the rainbow mentioned in Genesis, there’s also one surrounding God’s heavenly throne, another encircling an angel, and still another around the Lord himself.
I think of Nate in relation to all this sparkling beauty and wonder what he must think. I knew him well after 40 years of marriage and would have had the right answers on a quiz about what he was thinking in any given situation. But now I can’t say.
The one thing I do know is that some day I’ll see these supernatural rainbows, too, and become acquainted with the sunshine of heaven, which we’re told is actually Jesus. My guess is that his light will transform every heavenly thing into sparkles. With all the jeweled walls of the city and crowns of the saints, my afternoon rainbows will be small potatoes compared to how things will shine in glory. And Jesus himself, as the bright light of heaven, will be the sparkliest of all!
This afternoon I came home from the beach with a baggie of pretty beach stones. Will heaven have a beach? I know there’s a sea-like-crystal there, and I’m wondering, will the stones at the water’s edge be genuine jewels? Maybe the sand, too? And will Jesus be standing there? Oh my…
If that’s all true, I know why God keeps the wonders of heaven beyond our imaginations, because trying to picture them now is taking my breath away!
“The Lord their God will save his people on that day… They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.” (Zechariah 9:16)