Why Some People Refuse To Believe in Forever

Do you believe in forever? Do you know some people who don’t?

I’m not talking about romantic love that lasts for a lifetime, although it may foreshadow the kind of forever that we Christians believe in. I’m referring to eternity, the life after this one, and the one that God meant for us to have from the very beginning.

But why do some people refuse to believe in it?

When I first watched people on YouTube saying that even if they could wish for it, they wouldn’t wish for eternal life, I was astrounded. How could anyone not want to live forever? Isn’t it what any human being would naturally desire?

What I couldn’t accept is death. That there would be no more life after this one.

After all, isn’t this life so short? It is too short for us to spend time with the ones we love. It is too short to laugh, to sing with all our hearts, to taste all that is good!

In my mind, even if I get to live a thousand years, that would still be short. Only eternity would ever be sufficient for love.

Perhaps those who refuse to live in it don’t do so out of their natural human will. Deep down in their hearts, every human being yearns for eternity.

Maybe there are questions that haven’t been answered yet. Or fears that keep them from wanting this kind of life.

Here are some of the possible reasons why people may refuse to believe in forever:

1. They have a different concept of eternity

Due to the growth of secularization, some people who grew up outside the Christian faith may have heard about eternal life from other sources.

These sources may have taught them a different kind of afterlife that sparked their fears. As an example, they may have thought that in the next life, we would lose our identity and memory. Their unique personality could be erased and they would lose the essence of who they are.

They must learn that, unlike this concept, what truly awaits us by faith is a life of fulfillment as we are, with all our memories intact. It is not a life where we will forget or where our individuality will be erased. It is instead a life where we would know ourselves better and where our uniqueness will be cherished and loved.

2. They are exhausted with this life’s sufferings

For some people, eternity could simply mean an extension of the kind of life we have today. Because of this, everything else as we know it will simply continue to exist, including our suffering and pain.

And if they found it hard to even bear the sufferings of this life, how could they even start to imagine carrying the burden of never-ending exhaustion?

For them, it is better to end things than to continue living in pain, sorrow and fatigue.

3. They can’t imagine the joys of heaven

Being unfamiliar with the saints, they have no idea of the kind of happiness that awaits them in heaven.

This kind of joy is unlike any fleeting pleasure or amusement we’d ever have in this life. The closest resemblance maybe the happiness we experience in love but even that pales in comparison with the joys of heaven!

There, love would be deep, whole, unwavering and eternal. There will be no more tears, suffering or pain. You shall be known as you truly are and loved to the full.

There will be no more doubt or uncertainty, no more jealousy or fear of not being loved enough. Overflowing love shall be yours without end and your happiness will be without measure as you see God face to face!

Time Versus Eternity

We may fail to have a clear concept of eternity because we always compare it with time. But time is not a sufficient comparison to it because time only measures the moments that pass. It sets a duration to everything that we do and gives us an idea of those things we’d repeatedly do.

But eternity is different. It is not measured in time but in love. Love whose heights or depths are immeasurable, always fresh and overflowing.

There is no weariness in love, only pure joy!

Eternity is not a place for boredom or our simple ideas of amusement. It is a whole new level of existence where everything good is at hand and where our satisfaction is ever new.

It is a life of abiding in pure, holy and unfailing love with God and with each other, a life where we shall finally have the fullness of joy.

The Invitation

Let us try to live our lives reflecting the kind of happiness of someone who believes in heaven and eternal life.

We may not have the fullness of heaven’s joy, but we can share our hope of it, the kind of hope that already shares the happiness that is to come!

“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him…”
– 1 Corinthians 2:9 NABRE

“In heaven ‘eternal rest’ emphasizes the security of happiness in this permanence of life. There the human mind will see God face to face, recognizing Him as the one necessary Being, the infinite Truth, the only real Good, and the perfect Beauty. In God man will contemplate the wonder and harmony of His works, and the love, mercy, and justice of His dealings with His creatures. At the same time the human heart will overflow in an ecstasy of delight in the possession of the infinite Good and Beauty, while every other faculty will enjoy the pleasure and security of this interminable life. The pleasures of the elect will be further enhanced by the friendship of all the children of God in the mansions prepared for them from the beginning of the world.” – Peter Geiermann, The Narrow Way (New York: Benziger, 1914)

You may also want to read “Can You Imagine the Ecstasy of the Holy Saints?”

Learn more about heaven from my e-book “What Should You Look Forward To In Heaven?”