Preface: I was ill with the flu and had gone to bed weak and tired. The last thing I remember is laying in bed. This occurrence was in 1996 although I don’t remember the exact month or day. Bear in mind, the following occurred many years before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. And before I was baptized.
The next thing I knew, I was standing as if on a high mountain. I had a view of the entire earth’s history. What I saw can only be expressed in a very undetailed way. All that I saw and heard, was so much more than we can comprehend as humans. I will try to share what I saw and felt.
The sky was dark and foreboding as the clouds raced past at high speed, the sound was as a massive storm. The feeling was overbearing and almost like watching a movie in accelerated motion. I felt totally isolated from everything I had ever known. Time passed as centuries in minutes, peoples came into view and went out as quickly. Chariots passed by, wars were fought, mountains grew and diminished with a roar and a rush of winds. Ancient cities grew and then disappeared.
I stood there, watching as the history of the world from the beginning to the present passed by, the intense emotions, fears, pain, and pleasures all swirling through my being. I was separate from this, as a person watching a movie, and yet I was torn open by the rush of time as it passed through me.
The ages flew by, showing me the history of the world and bringing a portion of God’s knowledge to my mind. I understood all that had ever existed and all that ever would. It was like a review of the total history of man, and a view into the future all condensed into minutes. But time had no meaning here, this span of time covered the total history of the earth. I stood for what seemed to me as lifetimes. I was watching, listening, growing in awareness and realizing that I was being shown what only God could know.
After what seemed an eternity, everything slowed and began to lighten up. The swirling dark clouds gave way to a calm white light off in the distance. Gradually this white became a light so pure there is no description for it. It was not a light from a source, but a place, a total surrounding of pure love and peace.
I found myself standing in the midst of angels, hundreds of thousands of spirits that were all very pure and at peace. They were speaking with me, (not verbally but as if we could read minds) explaining what I had just seen. The vision I had been given was God’s knowledge regarding man. The pure, clear truth as it exists. They spoke of how living, as man was a gift that was designed to be a learning experience. A preparation for what was offered to us if we believe in Jesus.
I realized that this place was heaven. It was the spiritual home, the place we will go when the rapture happens, and in fact, not a place as we think of it, but the actual presence of God. I realized that God is everything, beyond time, before everything, and infinite.
I spent what seemed like another eternity there, speaking with the angels, learning the truth of who we are and what our purpose is. After many long conversations, the angels told me that I must return. It was not time for me to remain here. I had things to do on earth, and that these things were to be revealed at the appropriate times.
My wife at the time was frantic and in tears as I opened my eyes and began to realize where I was. I was lying in bed, the sheets and mattress were soaked in sweat, and I was cold and stiff. Slowly I gained awareness of my surroundings.
My wife told me she had come upstairs to check on me. She found me there in bed soaked in sweat, not breathing and my body was cold and pale. She thought she had lost me. As near as I can recollect, I estimate the earthly time I was away as 30-90 minutes. I shared this with my wife, but I did not speak of this for years for fear I would be thought “crazy”.
In 2014 I accepted Jesus as my Lord, and was baptized in the ocean off the California coast near Santa Cruz.
I know that I will spend the rest of my life reflecting on this truth, seeking to live the life that I have been given. I am not sure really what that entails, or how I will go about it, but I know that it will always be a part of me, and something I must do. I feel that God wishes me to share this truth with the world and somehow show humanity that this life is nothing but a speck in God’s scheme of things.
My prayer is that my story can bring more people to God. That through what God showed me, I can open the hearts and minds of many to Jesus. God is real, Jesus is real, Heaven is real, and we all have the opportunity to share in this glorious eternity.
