Our Hope

  
(This is a song we love and meant so much to us when we had babies in the nicu.)

Katie awaiting heart surgery at 3 weeks old

When our babies were preemies, we talked about how the neonatal intensive care unit was kind of like life here on earth, and our home was like heaven.  Our tiny babies knew nothing of the sweet, quiet, comfort of home.  They didn’t know life apart from pokes and wires and tubes.  Though we tried to spend as much time with them as we could, there were many hours of isolation and loneliness.  It was painful for us to accept, but it was unavoidable. 

Katie getting blood drawn the night the Lord rescued her from death

As the weeks went on, we longed for them to really know us as their parents and to know how great is our love for them!  We had prepared a place for them at home, and we longed for them to be with us.  But, they weren’t really ready for life at home.  It was because of our great love for them that we allowed them to undergo the sometimes painful treatments that they received in the nicu. 

So it is with God!  He longs for us to really know Him as our Father in Heaven, and to know His great love for us!  Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)  

Mom praying over Katie
the night the Lord rescued her from death

Like life in the nicu, sometimes this life is really painful and uncertain, and we long for heaven.  But God has left us here because we are not ready for life in heaven, just like our preemies were not ready for home.

Our babies had to accomplish a list of goals before they could go home.  They each had to be feeding well enough that they didn’t need a feeding tube anymore and were gaining weight.  They had to maintain a good heart rate and keep breathing on their own.   (No more turning blue!)  They also had to be able to sit in a car seat for an hour without having an episode of bradycardia.   

Like this list of requirements, many people think that if they just accomplish a list of “good deeds” in their life, and don’t do any big, bad things, then they will be ‘discharged’ to heaven at the end of their life.   But, God has told us in the Bible, ”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. “ (Ephesians 2:9) 

We can only be assured that there is a place prepared for us in our “Heavenly Home” if we have faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ as our Lord.  No good deeds could earn the love of God, and no sins could keep us out of heaven, if we have faith in Jesus.  The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

God loves you!  The Bible says that He loved us before we loved Him, and it is true!  In Romans 5:8 we read, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. “  No matter where we have been or what we have done, God loves us!  He wants to be in a close relationship with each of us.

Because God is perfect and sinless, He must remain separate from all sin.   A sinful person cannot enter the gates of heaven; if sinful people entered heaven, they would ruin it!  Just think about heaven a moment- the perfect place where there is no pain or death or tears.  Now imagine a selfish person entering  it and going around mucking everything up!  It would not remain heaven.  It would become a place of tears, more like the world we know on earth- more like a nicu.

 The Bible also says that all sin must be punished- “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)  Unfortunately, we all have sinned- none of us is perfect.  This has resulted in our separation from God.  So, God showed us His love by sending His own perfect Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sin through His death on the cross.

Jesus left the riches of heaven to come live as a poor baby and man and to be tortured and murdered so that you and I wouldn’t have to die for our sins.  God raised Jesus from the dead and He lives in heaven even today!  That is really good news for us, because He has promised that just as He raised Christ from the dead, we also can be raised to new life and live eternally! 

Home at last!

We are all kind of like a premature baby who is living the first days of his life in a nicu.  This life is all we know and have seen, and we have no real knowledge of our home in heaven.  We don’t know what it is to be continually in the presence of our Father.  But, God has shown us His love for us through His Son, Jesus, and we can be assured that someday we will be on our way home to be with Him, if we put our faith in Him.  Trust Him today!  If you would like more information about trusting and following Jesus, please e-mail us at tuckyduckymail@gmail.com.