The Question I Hope I Have An Answer For

By Matt Cobb

Heavenly Reunions

Recently, the kids were stalling on bedtime and asking me some in-depth questions like they usually do. ETC asked if she will get to meet her Papa, my dad, who passed away two years before she was born, when she gets to Heaven. Full transparency, that is the hardest thing I battle with. That I will never get to experience interactions between these two amazing kids (plus the other eleven that have come through) and my dad, who would have moved mountains for them. But we talked through all the joy and happiness there will be at the reunion at heaven's gates. 

I have a picture in my mind of what that heavenly reunion might be like. Not just streets of gold, mansions, or even the throne room. I picture a pearly airport arrivals gate. The doors swing open, and there they are. Friends and family who finished the race before I did. Brothers and sisters in Christ whose faith carried them home before mine. Maybe even a former dog or two. Most importantly to my earthly life, my dad. Strong, healthy, perfect. Smiles. Tears. Hugs that don't have endings. The kind of reunion that makes every goodbye worth enduring. For a while, I imagine that's exactly where I'd want to stay. But eventually, curiosity would get the better of me.

I'd want to meet Noah. I'd want to ask him what it felt like to spend decades building an ark while the world mocked him. What was it like when the first raindrop fell? What went through his mind when the door shut and only God could open it again?

I'd find Moses and ask him if the Red Sea really looked as impossible as Scripture describes. What did it feel like to raise his staff and watch walls of water stand at attention because their Creator gave the command?

I'd find David and ask him if Goliath looked even bigger in person. I'd ask Daniel what the lions were doing that night. I'd ask Peter what it was like to step onto water that should have swallowed him. I'd ask Mary Magdalene what it felt like to hear the risen Jesus speak her name.

Scripture tells us that after the resurrection, Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. She thought Jesus was the gardener until He simply said, "Mary." Everything changed in a single word. 

"Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned and said to Him... 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)." John 20:16

Imagine what it must have been like to be the first person the resurrected Christ chose to reveal Himself to.

I could spend centuries listening to stories like these. But then I wonder…

What if they started asking me questions? What if Noah smiled and said, "So, enough about us...you had the Holy Spirit. What was that like?" What if Moses leaned in and asked, "You mean God lived inside of you? Tell me about that." What if Mary asked, "What was it like to hear His voice every day?"

And suddenly... I'm not sure I'd know what to say. Because so often, I live like I don't realize what I've been given. 

The Helper Is With Us

Jesus told His disciples something remarkable before He went to the cross:

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." John 14:16-17

Forever. Not occasionally. Not on Sundays. Not during worship services. Forever.

Jesus even went so far as to say, 

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7

Think about that for a minute.

The disciples had walked beside Jesus. They watched Him calm storms, heal the blind, raise the dead, and forgive sins. If anyone could have argued that life couldn't get better than physically walking with Christ, it was them. Yet Jesus said it was better for Him to leave so the Helper could come. Better. That's how extraordinary the gift of the Holy Spirit is!

Paul later writes, 

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" 1 Corinthians 6:19

This is the same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2). The same Spirit who empowered the prophets. The same Spirit who descended on Jesus at His baptism (Matthew 3:16). The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead.

"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

He lives in us. Not beside us. Not occasionally visiting us. In us. And yet, if I'm honest, there are entire days where I barely acknowledge Him. I pray to the Father. I thank Jesus for the cross. But I often forget that the Holy Spirit is with me every moment of every day, guiding, convicting, comforting, teaching, and reminding me of Christ.

Jesus said, 

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit... He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26

Paul tells us, 

"Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galatians 5:16

and again, 

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

Keeping in step requires awareness. Relationship. Conversation. Dependence. I don't want Noah's question to leave me speechless. I don't want Moses to ask what it was like to have God's Spirit living inside me and have my answer be, "Honestly...I didn't think about Him very much."

I want to tell them that I learned to recognize His voice. That I followed His promptings. That He comforted me in grief, convicted me in sin, gave me courage when I was afraid, and pointed me back to Jesus over and over again. The truth is, I'm not there yet, and I would bet I am not the only one. And that's exactly why God didn't design the Christian life to be lived alone.

We need brothers and sisters who remind us of the Gospel when we've become distracted. We need people who ask us the hard questions. Who encourage us when we're weary. Who lovingly point out when we're drifting. Who remind us that the Helper hasn't left; we’ve simply stopped paying attention. 

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together... but encouraging one another…" Hebrews 10:24-25

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up..." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 

The Christian life was never meant to be a solo hike. It's a pilgrimage walked shoulder to shoulder with people who keep pointing one another toward Christ and reminding each other to listen for His Spirit.

So maybe the question isn't whether the Holy Spirit is present; Jesus already answered that. The question is whether I'm living like He is. And by God's grace, I hope that answer grows more beautiful every single day. Because one day, after the hugs and the reunions, after I ask Noah about the ark and Moses about the sea and Mary about the garden, I hope they ask me about the Helper.

And I pray I'll finally have a story worth telling.