The Fear of Dying

Do you fear death? 

I think it's safe to say we all feel at least some trepidation, if not outright fear, as we consider dying - one of the things that for us are in the unknown realm. Death holds an especially powerful grip on our emotions for several reasons....

One obvious reason is that we know that when someone we love dies, we cannot hope to see them again (at least, not here on earth). Another reason death can wreak havoc on our emotions is that we can't know entirely, and with certainty, what lies ahead for us when we pass on from this life. What exactly will we experience? Will we be aware of our surroundings? Will we see those we know who have gone on before us? What will we look like? How will we get around...or will we?

There's still another aspect of death that grips us at our core, and that is that none of us can expect to avoid it. Each of us is going to leave this earth at some point.

We all expect to go through the dying process, don't we. That is, unless we've buried our heads in the proverbial sand and evade the subject completely.

Actually, though, a lot of people do just that! Why? You know. It's because of their fear of dying.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Fear of dying - the ultimate weapon

If you've ever watched a war film, or a cowboy western, or even an animated fairy tale, chances are high that you have seen references to death. 

Knowledge of death is universal, and not limited to soldiers, gangsters, law enforcement, and drug addicts. It's just not real to think you have to be in a car accident, a plane crash, a drowning incident, or any other dramatic event before you should recognize that your own death will come. Eventually, if not sooner... isn't it true? 

So, while we hold the power of our own lives in a sense, we don't know when our lives will come to an end, do we. We try! We do lots of things (and avoid doing lots of things) in hopes of extending our time here. Of putting off the inevitable. But the truth is, we don't hold the power over our living days or our dying breaths.

I believe Almighty God does, and that faith has the power to squelch my fears concerning death.

According to Job's understanding, in the Scriptures, God the Creator has already written all the days of our lives, and so He knows on what day each of us will cease to live here on earth (Job 14:5). 

However, the Bible also tells us that the devil - our adversary - holds the power of death! (Hebrews 2:14-15) How can this be?? What does it mean for us, and what (if anything) can/should we be doing in response?

Maybe God has already decided when we will die, but He allows the devil to determine how? Or perhaps God, the Almighty Creator, determined both the time and manner in which each of us will see our last day on earth, and our enemy has the power to use our life choices - good and bad - to bring us to that moment.

Or it might be that both of those theories are as far from the truth as anything can be. Fact? It matters not whether we know those mysteries or not. In actuality, one could argue (with lots of rationale) that we are far better off not knowing....

Do you realize that it's the fear of death that is so paralyzing to us... so joy-sapping, so robbing of our best potential. That fear can even be detrimental to healthy relationships. The devil prowls around, looking for ways to ruin us, and he uses fear to drive us from abundant, joy-filled life to mere sorrowful existence.

There is joy in hope!

Simply put, we've got to hold onto the promises in Scripture. God has let us know that this life we now live, with its many hardships and problems, is not all there is. 

Do you recall what the apostle, Paul, said about it?

He knew hardship firsthand, for sure. But he trusted God above all else... including the apparent foolishness of hoping in something unseen, unprovable, and presently intangible. In fact, he acknowledged that "if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world."

Paul didn't leave it there, though!  Encouraging those who had, through faith in the gospel of Jesus, been given the right to become children of God, he said: "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later."

Thank God that JESUS is in charge, and not our enemy!!!

For, God the Father granted his Son authority over all people that (Jesus) might give eternal life to all those the Father has given him. Now this is eternal life according to Jesus: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

So... did you hear what I heard? I heard God's only begotten Son affirm that it's not the devil who has control. When this life is over - when we die - Satan has no more power over us! 

No wonder Paul could say the things he did. He understood that with death in the past, what we had hoped for in Christ Jesus will be our future. Rather, our past hope will have become our present joy!

Do You Have a Favorite Song or Hymn That Helps to Fill You Up? To Revive Your Spirit?

I know I have too many to name. But I'd love to share the lyrics of this one with you. It's called Ivory Palaces, and it was written in 1915 by Henry Barraclough, and he got the idea for his work from Psalm 45:8:

My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
And myrrh their texture fills;
Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine
With joy my being thrills. 

Refrain:

Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.

His life had also its sorrows sore,
For aloes had a part;
And when I think of the cross He bore,
My eyes with teardrops start.

His garments, too, were in cassia dipped,
With healing in a touch;
In paths of sin had my feet e’er slipped—
He’s saved me from its clutch.

In garments glorious He will come,
To open wide the door;
And I shall enter my heav’nly home,
To dwell forevermore.

Believers worldwide have contributed to the uplifting, strengthening, and faith-building of Christians ever since Jesus the Christ came to the earth, walked among us, taught us the true things of God, and bore the just punishment for our sins. We live with hope because His resurrection proved His power over our greatest enemy – death.

 It is difficult to put into words how we feel about our wonderful Savior’s sacrifice, or the unfathomable mercy our Creator/Sustainer demonstrated through His gift of salvation/reconciliation through sending His only begotten Son into this world.

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