{"id":2152,"date":"2019-04-13T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2019-04-13T07:56:58","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T14:56:58","slug":"heaven-wont-help-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/13\/heaven-wont-help-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Heaven won\u2019t help you."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"29\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/theres-only-grace\/inbaby-hand3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?fit=135%2C135&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"135,135\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"inbaby-hand3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?fit=135%2C135&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-29\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=135%2C135\" alt=\"hand in hand\" width=\"135\" height=\"135\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a cry which many of us have made within the depths of our despair, the tear-stained anguish of our common sufferings, the malcontent boiling of our overwhelming dissatisfaction.  \u201cHeaven help me.\u201d  How\u2019s that working for you?<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever considered that there is a lesson, or maybe many lessons, which you cannot learn in heaven?  As great as heaven is, as much as we long to be there, as glorious as all the worship about it offers us, we are all here on the tiny orbital rock in the vastness of a unimaginable universe to attend to a curriculum which can only be administered here, warts and all.<\/p>\n<p>I know it\u2019s hard to believe.  But where do you think you are going to learn patience.  Heaven can\u2019t teach you this.  It\u2019s a realm where everybody is eternally basking in love.  Time has no meaning there.  Patience involves working within the restrictions of time.  <\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t have patience without also focusing on compassion.  Who needs compassion in heaven when everyone is equal?  When time is factored into patience, compassion must be administered when all demand their own schedule be followed.  And in spite of how much you say you love people, slow moving folks require a level of compassion others just seem to drain from you particularly when they finally come into your field of vision.<\/p>\n<p>These are just a few examples but there are many more. Most of them operate around the notion of time.  Steadfastness, harmony and cooperation, tenderness, trustworthiness, commitment, and yes, even love, are lessons this life throws at you which must be taken over and over again until we pass the test.  Heaven can\u2019t help you because it put you in this school in the first place so that you would grow up.  <\/p>\n<p>There are far too many people who are trying to skip the tests with a note from home thinking they\u2019ll still graduate the class.  They fail to realize how the tests keep being administered but under different conditions.  Yes, Virginia, life is a story problem and sometimes, when you least expect it, you\u2019re on one of those two trains moving down the same track at two different speeds, and a quadratic equation is the only thing which is going to help you determine how your three children are going to get to different after-school events while you\u2019re preparing dinner.  Heaven has no idea the lessons we deal with sometimes simply because time is irrelevant in eternity.   So how is your grade coming in this school called life? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a cry which many of us have made within the depths of our despair, the tear-stained anguish of our common sufferings, the malcontent boiling of our overwhelming dissatisfaction. \u201cHeaven help me.\u201d How\u2019s that working for you? Have you ever &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/13\/heaven-wont-help-you\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[4,6,5],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2019-postings","tag-grace","tag-mike-hillebrecht","tag-teaching"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ITDy-yI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2750,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/14\/belief-versus-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":0},"title":"Belief versus Truth","author":"mike","date":"August 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We live in a day and age where \u201cdisinformation\u201d is all the rage across social media and MSM news outlets. Governmental agencies are seriously exploring ways to limit the ability of multiple narratives from being disseminated to the public. Free speech, the hallmark of a democratic society, is in peril\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2023 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2023 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2087,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/31\/lessons-learned\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":1},"title":"Lessons Learned","author":"mike","date":"December 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever considered just how wise you truly are? I\u2019m serious. You have within you a wisdom which is staggering on many levels. Unfortunately, rarely do we ever take time to consider what we know and just how we came to obtain this storehouse of wisdom. Wisdom is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2018 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2018 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2018-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":498,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/27\/children-dont-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":2},"title":"Children don\u2019t know","author":"mike","date":"May 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus stated that the kingdom of Heaven belongs to children. Adults don\u2019t get it, literally. Jean Piaget was a renowned child psychologist who told a story about a study of how children process information at differing ages. He classified them as \u201cpreop,\u201d the stage prior to being able to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2017 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2017 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2017\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2859,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/how-not-to-build-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":3},"title":"How Not to Build a Church","author":"mike","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I must confess to you that I haven\u2019t been to any \u201cwestern\u201d church since 2019. The last church I was a part of disbanded due to a change in beliefs with the orthodoxy required by the denominational group overseeing the people. The entire ordeal (perfectly orchestrated by the Father) left\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2024 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2024 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2024\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1534,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/11\/grace-the-end-of-the-innocence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":4},"title":"Grace &#8211; The End of the Innocence","author":"mike","date":"February 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In 1989, Don Henley, a member of the band The Eagles, recorded his third solo album with the lead song called \u201cThe End of the Innocence.\u201d The opening stanza and chorus are as follows: Remember when the days were long And rolled beneath a deep blue sky Didn't have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2018 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2018 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2018-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3345,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/06\/fractured-moments-grace-emerging-from-the-unexpected-cracks\/","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":5},"title":"Fractured Moments \u2013 Grace Emerging from the Unexpected Cracks","author":"mike","date":"December 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Building on our last dive into the grind [Previous Blog: Grace in the Grind \u2013 When Everyday Chaos Whispers Divinity], let's push deeper. What if the experiences we label \"not divine\"\u2014a job loss, a betrayal, or even a random encounter\u2014aren't interruptions but invitations? Our perceptions of grace don't evolve linearly;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2025 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2025 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2025\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2153,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}