Loud kookaburras, tigers and heaven
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve found nature, and especially animals, to be the best reminder of how amazing God is. Growing up in Brazil — a very populated country where we don’t have a lot of green around us — we don’t normally get to see wild animals. In the cities, we mostly get sparrows and pigeons — not the most colourful birds that Brazil is known for.
When I arrived in Australia, we moved into a house that was surrounded by bush, something I’d never experienced before. In the morning, very much jet-lagged, the loudest nature sound I had ever heard forced me to wake up. I poked my husband and asked, “do we have monkeys in our backyard?”, clueless that there are no monkeys in Australia — at least not wild ones. Later on, I found out that what woke me up was actually a riot of excited kookaburras.
Magpies, rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, galahs, cockatoos and even kangaroos were regulars in our backyard. It was surreal to me!
Being able to get so close to such beautiful animals without them even flinching, I couldn’t help but wonder how incredible heaven will be. We’ll be able to play with animals that on earth we can only get close to in the zoo!
1 Corinthians 2:9 gives us the idea that we have no clue what is waiting for us. “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
I mean, in my limited human mind, I’m already pretty stoked about the idea of rolling around with lions and tigers. But God promises way more than that!
What makes you look forward to heaven? With so much suffering and uncertainty in the world at the moment, we can feel downhearted. But God’s promise is true, and He gently reminds us daily of the amazing life that awaits us through the loud kookaburras or any other animals we can spot.
This editorial was originally published on the August 6 Adventist Record newsletter: Record eNews.
