“I am going there to prepare a place for you . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 (NIV)

No matter what you’re going through, no matter what adversity or discouragement you experience, you can be thankful that the pain is not going to last. God has prepared a home for you in heaven! This life is not all there is.

More than 50 years ago, when Kay and I got engaged, I lived in LA County, and she lived further north in Fresno. I knew I needed to prepare a place for my bride where we could live together once we were married. I didn’t have a lot of money. But I found the coolest little condo—which in the 1970s meant lime green shag carpet and burnt orange fixtures. During the months of our engagement, I scoured flea markets and garage sales, hunting for great pieces to fill that house because I wanted it to be as beautiful as I could possibly afford.

But that beloved first condo was nothing compared to the place that Jesus has been preparing for his bride, the church. You want to know how long God has been preparing heaven for you?

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world’” (Matthew 25:34 NLT).

That’s a long time to decorate! God has been preparing heaven since the creation of the world.

There is more to life than here and now, and one day God is going to settle the score and right the wrongs. This is not the end of the story!

Heaven will be beautiful and enjoyable and restful and rewarding. But the best part is that we will be with Jesus—walking and talking with him and sitting at his feet. He said in John 14:2-3, “I am going there to prepare a place for you . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (NIV).

What an incredible promise! We get to be with Jesus forever. God wanted a family, so he chose us and is preparing a place for us. If you trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life, that promise is for you.