Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?”
Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king.
For this I have been born,
and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
John 18:37 (NAS)

There is one decision that every person here on Planet Earth has to make at some point in time – like it or not. That one irrevocable decision that faces every person is this: what will you do with Jesus. Bill (Husband) has such a unique way of saying things. He agrees about the one vital decision, but then he says: “Since we did what we were supposed to do – accepted our salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus – then why leave us here? Why go through all these hassles? Why doesn’t He just beam us up?”*

Let’s think together. What if – after birth – a child never grew, was never able to communicate, never responded to your love, was never a part of your life?

I’ve shared many thoughts with you – very personal thoughts – about our second son, Mason David Gillham. He advanced to the possible mental capacity of a two-year old and after reaching that plateau began regressing rapidly. Oh, how we yearned to talk to Mace! How we longed for him to respond to our love; to know his brothers; to be a part of our family; to go the lake with us, to have fun riding the waves on our inner tubes and then cooking supper on the island that we claimed as the Gillham Island. I wanted Mace to say to me, “I love you, Mother”. Bill wanted him to say, “Thanks, Dad, for today. It was great being with you”. Pres wanted Mace to say, “I love you, Bro”. We wanted to have this loving relationship that would grow deeper with every incident, major and minor, in his life.

Yes, we had Son #2, but we never really knew him and he never really knew us. We didn’t hold hands as we walked into his first grade classroom; we didn’t go to any football games to watch him play; we didn’t celebrate his birthday with all sorts of surprises; we didn’t comfort him when his latest girl friend dated someone else; we didn’t go to his graduation or congratulate him on his first job. He simply was not a part of our lives. And we have always regretted that huge void where Mason’s world should have been. Does the answer to the question as to why God doesn’t “beam us up” begin to make its way into your thinking processes?

God loves to spend time with just me, getting to know me; holding me closely and going through tragedies with me; crying with me when I hurt; laughing with me; flying flags of victory with me; catching every tear and preserving each one of them in “Anabel’s tear bottle”. How happy He is when I say, “I love you so much dear Lord. Thank You for being with me today. You have no idea how precious it is to know that You are with me every second of every day.” As we go through the seconds, the minutes, the hours together, He and I become friends, close friends, the one Friend who will never leave me, who loves me more than anyone has ever or could ever love me.

I would have missed all of this if He had “beamed me up” when I opened the door of my heart and asked Him to come into my life. When I did this, I answered that all-important question, “Anabel, what will you do with Jesus?” You must understand that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship. That relationship grows as He and I live each day together, sad days and happy days. The nice thought is that one of these days He will tell “Scotty”, “Beam her up. She’s ready to come Home”. How exciting!

*From the original Star Trek series- remember?