“But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 8:12
Jesus’ teaching about hell is meant to strike terror in our hearts, warning us that if heaven is better than we could dream, so hell will be worse than we can imagine. Hell warns us to seek heaven.
When I was first injured, doctors pumped me up with powerful drugs to get rid of the infection that was raging through my body. When nurses turned me facedown on the Stryker frame, I could only see the floor and people’s feet. Horrified, I saw the ugly cloven hooves of demons where there should have been shoes of nurses. The feet of friends were webbed with claws. I screamed at the nurses not to flip me face up, fearing that I would see ugly monsters, but when they turned me over, I was shocked to find everything normal.
What a hell. Looking back, I know that my terror was drug-induced. But those frightening images remained with me even through subsequent years of backsliding and bitterness. In fact, during those years when I teetered on the brink of rejecting Christ entirely, scary cloven hooves would flash in my mind. For me, it was a warning.
We all go through hell now and then. But our hellish moments on earth can’t even begin to touch the hell that awaits unbelievers. So why should we complain if God decides to give us a tiny infinitesimal taste of what actual hell could be like? Rather than be angry, be thankful that Jesus saves.
There’s nothing you could possibly be put through on earth that can even begin to feel like the real hell. So every time you think circumstances are hellish, breathe a sigh of relief that Jesus has saved you from the real thing.
Thank You, Jesus, that You’ve saved me not only for heaven but from hell.
