Disclaimer: I don't know what eternity will be like. The following is my theory based on this line from an old hymn: "When we see him as he is, we'll praise him as we ought."
When I was a kid growing up in the Baptist church, I would hear what the preachers taught about "heaven" mostly. I understood that we would be there forever and honestly, it sounded boring to me. I wanted to DO SOMETHING. What were we going to DO? Picture a fidgety kid buzzing around on her bike looking for some kid-action.
I carried this thought into growing into my Christian life. One day, I came up with this theory which sounds pretty good to me. Eternity will be a replay of time. I will get to sit in a heavenly theater with Jesus, with some heavenly popcorn, and Jesus will show me my life as it existed in "time:" He will show me, us, how he was working in us to make his children, who he intended us to be.
So with that, in eternity past, Father God decided that he needed "Nell". He decided who my parents would be, when I would "burst onto the scene" and where I would live. He decided that on a day certain, I would be in the Bible School program with all the "Tiny Tot" class and we would sing this song:
"Into my heart. Into my heart.
Come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Come in today. Come in to stay.
Come into my heart Lord Jesus."
That was the day he would answer my tiny little prayer and he would come to live inside Nell forever. I remember a few little tears but I didn't know why until many years later.
So I will get to see it happen. Not "instant replay" but surely "heavenly replay." My sweet parents might be sitting with us too.
Jesus and I are sitting together and he says to me: Remember this...when you got really mad at me and were pretty unhappy about ... Then, of course, whatever I was unhappy about became part of me. Part of who I am as I learned to trust him. And from another old hymn I was beginning to learn: Jesus doeth all things well.
Since we have plenty of time, Jesus and I will sit together watching "The Nell Story". I will begin to "see Him as He is" and only then I will be able to "praise Him as I ought." Others will come and go in my story, as they did in "time." I will come and go in the story of others, like the weaving of a fine tapestry. I have a ton of questions and he will shush me, again, to "Wait! That's coming up soon." Questions that remain will be answered, and some questions may have just disappeared.
The big jar containing all my tears he counted will be there, having been turned from sorrow into glory at his presence, because in eternity, there will be no more tears. As story after story is displayed in 3000x-HD (Heavenly Definition) in the audience you can hear over and over. "Ok, Lord. I get it now. Thank you."
Everyone will be there, patiently watching my story with us as we all see how I fit into his Plan. When it's time for your story, no one leaves the heavenly theater--except maybe to go for more popcorn. This heavenly, cinematic marvel, could go on forever...seeing him as he is.
In another hymn, I think the author might agree with me, as he described an extraordinary heavenly visual:
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song
So this author is right, there is not enough parchment, not enough scribes, not enough ink--the scroll is too small. It will take eternity to contain the whole as we sit in the Heavenly Theater stretched from sky to sky.
Anyway, I hope this is what eternity will be like. I'm sure it will be better, but inquiring minds want to know!
Nell