Joy Unspeakable

Anyone who has experienced a close encounter with God never forgets it.  The memory, if not in our immediate thoughts, occupies the back of our minds all the time.

I was around 15 or 16 years old when this happened to me the first time.  From the time I was a child until sometime after this experience, I would lay in bed at night and go through a myriad list of prayer requests.  It was long and laborious and I didn’t want to miss a thing.  Visually, for me, my prayers seemed like large, complicated scaffolding reaching up along side a sky scraper; a structure that I had to climb to the top of each night before I could go to sleep.

One night, I lay on my bed in the pitch dark room going through this routine when suddenly Jesus was standing next to me.  I did not see him, but I felt Him standing by the bed.  I also felt happiness.  And, in my mind I began to ramble a happy, bubbly, monolog. I don’t remember how long He was there, because I didn’t stop for air.  I just gabbed with Jesus as though the two of us were having our own slumber party.

Then just as suddenly as He came, He was gone. It was then that I realized I had been doing all the talking, something I rarely do when I am with people.  So I said that I was sorry, and He replied that it was ok.  In my mind’s eye I could see him standing there laughing and smiling at me.

What a gift! I have cherished that memory for 40 years, and it has recently made me rethink what heaven will be like.  If experiencing Jesus, silently and invisibly near me for just a few minutes can bring such overwhelming happiness and joy, what will it be like to be in His presence all the time in heaven?

I think the best answer, in part, comes from the old hymn: Joy Unspeakable.

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory;
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.