This past week, my wife and I were thrilled when we watched the below video from our grandson’s wife, Faith, announcing that he was finally coming home after 77 days in the hospital and two weeks in rehabilitation.
https://www.facebook.com/100000589634003/videos/624251508748791/
When Charlie arrived home on Saturday, our family celebrated like we had won the World Series. We are so happy for his recovery and thankful for all who have prayed for him. Would you please keep praying he will continue to regain his strength and be healthy?
During the darkest days of Charlie’s prolonged hospitalization, I kept pondering the same question: “How do people go through this kind of uncertainty and stress without the help of the Lord and the hope of heaven?” We didn’t know if Charlie was going to live or die, but we were sustained by Jesus’ promise, “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will live even though He dies.” How does anyone look death squarely in the face without that assurance?
Let me ask you – Are you confident you will go to heaven when you die? The recent pandemic revealed that many people are terrified of dying, partly because they lack the assurance of eternal life. Some were afraid to leave the house, hug their grandchildren, shake hands, or get within six feet of another person. They reasoned, “I don’t want to wind up on a ventilator, struggling for every breath, separated from my family in ICU. How horrible! Besides, death is mysterious, and I’m not sure what happens afterward. I certainly don’t want to wind up in hell, punished for my sins!”
As with most fears, the fear of death is not altogether bad. The will to live is one of the strongest, God-given instincts we have. The innate fear of death prevents us from taking foolish chances, abusing our bodies with dangerous substances, or even committing suicide. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” so some fear of God’s judgment is appropriate.
It is one thing to have a healthy will to live, yet it is another to be held captive to fear. The Bible teaches Christ came to “break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Listen again to these comforting words of Jesus: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).
Notice two principles Jesus taught that should help us overcome the fear of death. First, Put your ultimate trust in Christ. He endured death and conquered it. He promises that through His power, you can do it also.
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).
Secondly, Be assured Jesus will meet you and escort you through the death experience. “…I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).
When I was nine years old, I played for a Little League baseball team three miles from home. Sometimes after practice, a teammate’s father would drive me home and let me off at the end of the dirt road that led a half-mile up to where our family lived. Sometimes if we practiced late, I would have to walk that half-mile in the dark. It was terrifying. It seemed that every rustle in the bush was a pack of coyotes or maybe an angry bear. I am confident there were several times I set the world record for a half-mile by a nine-year-old!
However, every once in a while, when Mr. Nieman stopped the car, I could see through the dark shadows the figure of my dad leaning against a tree. He had walked the half-mile down the road to accompany me home through the dark. Upon seeing him, all my fears would suddenly disappear because, at that age, when you have your dad at your side, there is nothing to fear.
Jesus promised, “I will come again and receive you to myself.” You won’t go through death alone; Jesus will be there to meet you. Because of that promise, we can say with King David, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4 KJV).
When you have that type of assurance, you can “do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”
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