I Can Only Imagine

Have you ever been so amazed by real beauty, that it made you short of breath? Made you feel as though you would burst? Made you feel, somehow, like there was a void deep inside of you that only that beauty could fill, if only you knew how to really embrace it? It’s rare, but when I do have it – whether it has been triggered by a heart-wringing strain of music or a breath-taking glimpse of God’s creation – it is not only beautiful, but it hurts. It makes one inexplicably happy, and senselessly sad; sad in an intense, longing sort of way, not in a sorrowful sense. Does that even make sense? Not really, but it is the case, nonetheless.

Anyway, there is something truly beautiful and mysterious about the book of Revelation. Its pages fill me with a wonder and desire that I cannot understand or explain. Today, reading this passage in church, that feeling over-whelmed me again:

“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thundering, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.”  – Revelation 4:3-6

Think of the beauty of the power, and the fear of the power, and the awe of the power of God that we will feel when we see this scene. Think of what it will be like to sing with all creation “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13b) O! Do you get goose bumps just reading those words?

Who can comprehend a beauty so great, it frightens?

Who can understand a sight so breath-taking, it terrifies?

Who can envision a scene so stunning, it petrifies?

How beautiful! How exciting! How amazing! How awesome! If simply reading this passage gives such an indescribable feeling, what will heaven be like?

I can only imagine.