As I wake up, I realise I am in some sort of big, white container that is closed on all sides. Maybe I’m in a coffin because I didn’t make it! It is dead quiet without a soul in sight – even God is not here. It is dark except for an eerie low-level glow that enables me to make out what is around me. I try to get up but my arms and legs are tied. I think I am going to throw up, but I realise that in doing this, lying on my back unable to move, will kill me given there is no help anyway. I am panic-stricken. This must be Hell.
My consciousness slowly returns and I realise that the white walls of my container or coffin are actually the curtains that are drawn around my hospital bed. The eerie glow is coming from all the machines standing next to my bed and the ties around my wrists and ankles are the wires and pipes running to the monitoring equipment. The bedding is so heavy that where it lies on the wires and pipes, it makes it feel shorter and constrained. And to top it all, the entire length of my left arm is in plaster. I remember there should be a panic button somewhere and after some struggling with only one useful arm to raise my torso a little bit, I noticed it on my chest. I press the button and after a short while a nurse peers through the curtain. My visit to hell ends.
Just some background, in case you are wondering what this is all about. I recently had an accident with my mountain bike and broke my left elbow into three pieces, in addition to my upper arm that was broken just above the elbow joint. The surgeon also had to saw off the ulna in my forearm to be able to gain sufficient access to all the places where he had to insert all the metal plates and screws he had to use. The experience I am describing above happened when I woke up after the operation. It was already eleven in the evening because the operation took longer than expected and all the nursing staff had retired to a central place in the ward where I could not hear or see them. I was alone in my room.
I can honestly say that this was the worst experience of my life. Being completely alone with no loved ones, no other people, not even God there (this may sound unfounded, but I had no feeling whatsoever that God was present – and I am convinced that was what He wanted me to experience). And what I didn’t mention – Satan was there, peering at me in deep thought without saying a word. I have never bothered to study Satan or Hell or anything to do with the dark side, so it is not that this was foremost in my mind at the time, or any other time in my life, for that matter. But even for a rookie like me I had no doubt for one moment that I was experiencing how Hell will be one day. Alone, with no help either from loved ones or from anyone else and, worst of all, deserted and forsaken by God. Trust me, this is not something you will want to experience EVER!
Life is a death-trap. The only way to leave life is to die – and you wíll sooner or later. So many people try not to think about this fact by working very hard, or by enjoying as much of their life as they can, or by numbing themselves with alcohol, drugs, etc. But eventually you will come to the realisation that the only escape is through death, and you will have the choice whether you will want to do that with or without Christ. With Him you will gain eternal life afterwards. Without Him you will enter Hell – and the least it will be, will be like how I experienced it. With utter abandonment by all your loved ones, by all who may care what happens to you, as well as by God who can save you.
We can have a taste of eternal life already today, here on Earth, by being born again in Christ and by experiencing some of the joys of eternal life like love or peace. On the other hand, we can also have some experience of Hell here on Earth, if we reject Christ and also manage to lose most or all of our loved ones. Many who reject Christ whilst still alive, at least have loved ones still loving them, so they do not experience Hell just yet. But, I beg you, do not die without Christ. You cannot begin to imagine what it will be like. Alone. Very alone.
