Ministry of Love

The intention of this blog is to share Biblical messages at least on a weekly basis. Any response is appreciated. I do not expect everyone to agree with my interpretation of Biblical passages. I will try to respond with love and thoughtfulness.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Musings: 08/06/09, My Experience with Death, by John.

My Experience with Death

Here I am almost 82, and all around me friends are leaving this life. Death is, or course, inevitable in the normal sequence of life. Psalm 90:10 says, "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. " I suppose we never get enough living done unless we suffer too much illness, or something so limits our desired pursuits that everything seems worthless.

One of the limitations that can make us feel like dying is to miss the Lord's calling. The writer of Ecclesiastes said in 1:1, "The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'" That is exactly what happens when we miss the Lord's calling. I remember when two popular and famous screen leading men left notes saying they had done everything, experienced everything that life had to offer when they committed suicide! How can a person made in the image of God, educated, aware of the world around them, be so blind to spiritual truth? I wonder...

Yet, in my mind I know death is nothing to be feared. In my living flesh, I don't like to suffer, and in my human spirit there is a fear of the unknown. People who don't know Jesus have a reason to fear. Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" Reflection on those words causes me to say, it is wonderful thing to step into the hands of Jesus! In John 10:27-30, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Stepping into the hands of Jesus makes all the difference in the world as to how we view life! He gives us forgiveness of our past, present and future sins. He gives us direction in living. He gives us an everlasting purpose that we will carry with us throughout eternity. The relationships we form as brothers and sisters in Christ last forever, not just a lifetime.

Death, it seems to me, is just a moment of relaxation prior to our springing into new, limitless life in God's heaven! We need not fear it, and we certainly have no good reason to end the life we have early. God will leave us here until our work is finished, and He alone decides that.

Grief comes when family and friends move into eternity. That's normal. As David said when his and Bathsheba's son died, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.'" (II Samuel 12:22,23). David was grieving, and in spite of his grief he went about doing the things that needed to be done.

I have grieved a great deal over those who departed, not because they were gone, but because I missed them severely. I may not have seen them in a long time, but I knew they were available as long as they were here. Now they were gone.

I believe God's Spirit constantly monitors us. He lives within us, and He knows when we grieve. The Spiritual song of the past says it well, "There is a balm in Gilead that heals the sin-sick soul. There is a balm in Gilead that makes the sinner whole." Grief leaves a hole in our beings, but God's Spirit fills it with God's love and God's comfort. People leave us, but we are never alone! I find constant comfort in that thought, and then I find God is present when I turn to Him in prayer. He hears and answers the prayers of His children. In I John 5:14,15 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." When I need instant comfort, that's where I find it!

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