Your Apprenticeship for Heaven

What if the challenges you face today are actually lessons for eternity? Discover how God is preparing you for your ultimate role in Heaven.

God’s plan is for you to develop and grow under the divine wisdom of His son. He has, in essence, placed you in an apprenticeship program so you can learn and follow the ways of Jesus. His goal is to be able to say to you at the end of your life, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

As a part of His family, God is grooming you for the ultimate role He has planned for you. He’s watching you to see how you demonstrate your faithfulness. And He’s making certain you have every opportunity to succeed by placing you in what best-selling author Randy Alcorn calls His “apprenticeship program.” In his book Heaven, Alcorn writes that, “Christ is not simply preparing a place for us; he is preparing us for that place.”

Will You Accept the Challenge?

Alcorn goes on to write that, “Apprentices in training must work hard and study hard to prepare for the next test or challenge.”

That means that the challenges you are facing right now might in fact be a part of the greater preparation He has planned for you in Heaven.

Instead of focusing on the downsides to the challenges that are clouding your life, why not instead look at them as God’s preparation for the greater dreams that you will one day live out in Heaven? Why not speak to the Lord in prayer and acknowledge to Him that the challenges He has placed before you are in fact teaching perspective and patience—both of which will give you the enhanced wisdom, skill, appreciation, and joy you’re sure to receive in Heaven?

In other words, ask yourself: Through the challenges I am now facing, what dreams might God be preparing for me?

Revelation 3:21 offers encouragement in even the most challenging of situations:

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

The inheritance of Heaven awaits you, but you must be up for the challenge here on earth. How seriously have you been treating His divine teaching? When was the last time you spent time in His Word? When was the last time you looked to Him as your teacher, and humbled yourself before Him as His pupil?

If you’re not happy with how you answered the above questions, it might be time to readjust your priorities. It’s not too late to embrace the apprenticeship He has placed before you.

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