Oh grieving heart, how heavy life feels when a loved one leaves this earth behind. All the things you dreamed of doing with them, all the things you could have or should have said or done with them keep flashing before your eyes. It should not have happened yet; they were too healthy, too young, too important. It was too unexpected, or maybe it was too long to suffer. It is so unfair. How much missing them pains you. Why, God, is life so hard?
Grief is an interesting thing. It does things to you that you might never expect, but it is a good, healing thing. It is a reminder that this world is broken and in need of the Redeemer. Death is a reminder that this place is not our forever home. I am no stranger to grief. I have known many special people who have gone before me. I write this even in the midst of grieving the loss of my dear Grandfather (Pop-Pop, George A. Welsh). My Grandfather passed away 9/11/26.
Yes, grieving is good and healing when you walk through it with God, letting Him hold you and comfort you. Not to turn around and say the cliché thing—“Oh, your loved ones are with the Lord and everything’s all right now”—but I do want to reflect on what the experience in heaven must be like. It must be an indescribable thing to be in heaven with the God you love. Yes, there is no more pain and suffering, but they are also fully sanctified and get to see God face-to-face in His full glory. They are getting to experience in full what the blood of Christ has done for them.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Philippians 3:20–21
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Imagine what it is like to experience God in His fullness—seeing Him face-to-face like Moses, the disciples, and some of the prophets, in all His glory. Imagine being with all the heavenly beings worshipping Him around the throne and serving Him: the King of heaven and earth, the Creator of everything, the Savior of all, with a voice like thunder and a whisper on the wind, whose glory radiates to light the whole of heaven.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (Then we shall see face to face, as the NIV translates.)
Exodus 19:16–20
Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 24:9–10, 16–18
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank…
Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain.
Exodus 33:11, 19–23
So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Exodus 34:5–7
Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Isaiah 6:1–4
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
Ezekiel 1:1, 26–28
…that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God…
And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
Ezekiel 8:2
Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
Ezekiel 10:1
And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14
“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened…
“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”
1 Kings 22:19
Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.”
Revelation 1:10–18
On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Revelation 4:2–6, 8–11
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal…
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Revelation 5:5–8, 9–14
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb…
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
What a wondrous sight our dear ones will have of our God and our Savior! This next passage does a beautiful job explaining the difference between encountering God on earth and encountering Him as saints in heaven. Going back to the verse in 1 Corinthians, the old, foggy reflection in a mirror pales greatly next to what it is like to see God in heaven.
Hebrews 12:18–24
For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
What an exciting day it will be when we get to see our Lord and Savior face-to-face! Without fear of death or missing His fullness, but raising our hands and dancing before His throne, or falling at His feet with the elders and declaring who He is. Not to mention, our loved ones get to celebrate this with the others they loved who went before them. I have a little story and song to share with you before I close this thought.
After the death of a couple of my relatives following a battle with cancer, I would comfort myself with an image in my mind every time I came into worship: I would place myself before the throne of God, gazing at Him, surrounded by the ones I loved in heaven. I would celebrate who He is alongside them as they experienced it fully. As others followed them to heaven, my choir grew and grew. In my SOW (School of Worship) with YWAM, this song was born from that image, my quiet time moments with the Lord, and the very same verses above. I hope it comforts you as much as it has me.
Throne Room
When I come into Your presence,
All my cares and all my worries vanish away.
I am alone with You
Before Your throne.
I’m overwhelmed by Your love,
I’m overwhelmed by Your peace,
I’m overwhelmed by Your story in me.
Singing with the saints and angels:
I will glorify Your name.
You are worthy to receive all honor and all power,
’Cause You are holy, holy.
You are holy, holy.
Singing holy, holy,
Singing holy, holy are You, God.
When I come into Your presence,
I am undone as You tell me to look in Your eyes.
You have made me clean,
And I will worship You.
I’m overwhelmed by Your love,
I’m overwhelmed by Your peace,
I’m overwhelmed by Your story in me.
Falling down, the elders lay their crowns
Before Your feet,
Singing worthy, worthy,
You created all things.
Singing worthy, worthy,
You created all things.
Singing worthy, worthy,
You created all things.
Singing with the saints and angels:
I will glorify Your name.
You are worthy to receive all honor and all power,
’Cause You are holy, holy.
You are holy, holy.
Singing holy, holy,
Singing holy, holy are You, God.
Even as our earthly bodies experience pain or we go through hard times, we sometimes wish to be with them in heaven to rest from this present life. But we must press on toward our goal so that the Father will be pleased we did not waste the time He has given us, walking in surrendered obedience until the very end.
2 Corinthians 5:1–10
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
I will end with this prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for the time we have had with those loved ones who have gone before us. Thank You for the blessing of knowing them and for all the big and small moments we shared with them. Thank You that they are now with You and that we will one day see them again if we only give our devotion to You. Thank You that Your ways are good and that You are a sovereign and good God. I love You, Lord Jesus. Thank You for making a way back to You.
In loving memory of Pop-Pop (George A. Welsh).
