The Highlights Reel

How many of you are into sci-fi?  My family isn’t really into it in a big way. However, there is one show that we really enjoyed watching:  Warehouse 13.  It was a show is about the worldwide hunt for specific items.  It focused on the adventures involved in bringing these “artifacts” back to the warehouse. There were several seasons, and towards the end of the last season the team sat down and went over a “highlights reel” of sorts.  It was a look back at each individual’s best times and “defining moments” with the warehouse.

One morning this week, I was in the shower praying.  (Yes, I know how weird that sounds, but realistically, there are less distractions there and with the possible exception of a dog living his best life on the bathroom rug in front of the space heater – I’m alone.)  I was asking the Lord for confirmation about something in my life, and the Lord answered me immediately. Mind you, it was also rather dramatically, as I was standing there half asleep with conditioner in my hair.  The details are really inconsequential to this story and the reader, except that it was no doubt a rather ridiculous picture.  The point was that it made me wonder: Am I going to see this moment again someday and laugh at myself?  Is there a highlights reel in heaven?

For example, if you are a teacher, your highlights reel might include the exact moment something you said or did, sparked a lifelong love of learning, or of books.  Or maybe you sparked a specific interest in a child’s life. You might get to see the ripple effect of how that ultimately influenced not only his life, but the lives of people around him.  Or maybe it was a random act of kindness for a stranger in the grocery store.  Perhaps it was a kind word for somebody that you work with.

I’m sure it would include all the BIG WINS and the MOMENTOUS MIRACLES.  But I hope it includes all the “still, small” moments as well.  I hope it includes times He answered you in the shower – or in the car – or while you were mowing or doing dishes.

Maybe there was a time when you or a loved one went through a very hard situation.  It was one of those situations where God didn’t ordain it, but He used it (Roman 8:28).  So that later you were able to touch the life of somebody else going through a similar circumstance.  Maybe you ministered to a single mother, or somebody going through a divorce or a death, or battling an addiction.  Or maybe you ministered to someone who made a bad decision and is in prison (a physical one or an emotional one). Regardless, it was YOUR experience with a bad situation that enabled you to show compassion and empathy. Your experience enabled you to touch a life in a capacity that otherwise may have been impossible.

Wouldn’t you like to see those things on a highlights reel?  Wouldn’t you like to see how those things have affected people you knew and loved?  And some that you never even got to meet?

The Bible is clear about the fact that we are not supposed to dwell in the past.  But God is also a God of REMEMBERING and MEMORIALS.  He sets aside times for His people to reflect and remember pivotal points and times that He has been with us in our lives, and as a people.  In fact, we are supposed to tell our children and our grandchildren about those things.  We are supposed to recount the small wins, the big victories. Sometimes we even need to share the losses, especially if there is a lesson to be learned.

I’m not sure a heavenly highlights reel is technically Biblical. But I sure hope that after all the meetin’ and greetin’ and the hugs and the shouts of joy, there is a special presentation of the highlight reels of our lives.  I’ll meet you there.  And I’ll bring the popcorn.  😊

Please feel free to share our posts and our blog site and leave comments below! We are so glad you are here!