At one time or another, most of us have experienced some type of living hell. It’s that place in life where everything seems to be falling apart. Nothing is right. It’s the stuff of life, and it can get darned messy.
When you’re on a roller coaster ride that’s off the rails, you want to set your sight on heaven. And, let me quickly add that heaven isn’t some mysterious place up there in the stratosphere. Heaven can be experienced right here on earth.
Heaven, you see, is a state of heart and mind. It’s a place of spiritual connection and contentment, but it doesn’t just magically happen. We must seek and find.
We’re invited to do the hard work. We’re invited to discover heaven right here on earth.
Yet, most often, our hard-headed pride gets in the way. Sometimes the only way to discover heaven is to walk through the doorway of hell. Sometimes it’s in our suffering that we come to rise again.
It’s a painful notion, I know.
The bigger question is, are you willing to meet the challenge?
1. Get Your House in Order
There are often signs that alert us to the fact that our house isn’t in order. We just tend to ignore those signs. Even unexpected tragedy can be handled when our house is in order.
Having your house in order means that you’re living from Godly principles. The way you handle your relationships, your money, your business, discipline your children, love and honor your spouse, respect your employer—all of these aspects of life require disciplined wisdom.
I don’t know about you, but I need a guidebook to manage all this stuff. Life is complex and confusing. Maybe that’s why most religious traditions offer a “book of wisdom.”
Did you know, for example, that the Bible offers up over 2,000 references to how we should handle money? Maybe that’s because money has the power and potential to run our lives if we let it.
The point is that we need guidelines to keep our house in order. Especially when life goes crazy wild. Whether you wrap your mind around the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, the ancient Vedic texts, or some other book of wisdom, what matters is that you listen for the voice of Godly wisdom and reason.
We must train our hearts and minds in the way in which we should go so that when life gets challenging, we’re prepared. Not just prepared for survival, but prepared to live out our lives according to the wisdom and direction of God.
2. Watch for Divine Intervention
When life is upside down, sometimes it’s an indication that something is not spiritually right in your life. Prayer and meditation is a way that you can directly ask God for clear direction, strength, and discernment.
Think of Scripture as God’s way of text messaging us on a daily basis. We learn about his unconditional love and regard via those messages.
There’s no need to over spiritualize every aspect of your life. But, if you’re reading Scripture daily, you’ll quickly begin to view the world and all it’s circumstances through a spiritual lens.
The goal is to read and listen for the gentle whispers of God.
Don’t cheat yourself of those rich moments of revelation. Sit up and pay attention. If you’ve never experienced divine intervention, this may sound a bit hokey, but trust me. Once you experience God speaking into your heart, you will never be the same.
How do you know it’s God and not your own imagination?
Well, as my son Michael once said, “I know, Mom, because He tells me things I don’t already know.”
If you believe in God as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, then it only stands to follow that he’s smack in the details of your life. And, He is waiting for you to ask, listen, and receive His loving guidance.
Again, heaven is a matter of spiritual contentment and connection. The details and circumstances of your life, while real and sometimes devastating, don’t have to determine your response.
The quickest way out of living hell is to embrace the unconditional love of God. Seek and you shall find. It was that unconditional love that carried me through the death of my son Michael. It is that unconditional love that carries me today and every day.
If you’re in some form of living hell, my prayer is for you to step into heaven. Right here. Right now.
If you’re not exactly sure how to do that, drop me an email at sharon@sharonspano.com. I know a lot about hell and just enough about heaven to help you get there.
Let’s talk about it.