My first witness of death was that of my mother. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done, even though I knew she was going to be with the Lord and was no longer going to experience the pain and suffering she had gone through most of her life. After her death, I wrote to a friend and mentor and told him that I could certainly see why the Apostle Paul called Death an enemy in First Corinthians 15:26. When my friend replied to my letter he reminded me that while death certainly is an enemy, that same chapter in Corinthians also says that it is the last enemy, it is swallowed up in victory and it is one of the things that is ours.
We cannot escape the subject of death in the bible or in life. The real question is, are we prepared for it? We know the reason for death . It entered into the world because of sin, Adam's sin. "In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely DIE", (Gen.2:17) was the command of God to Adam. We also know the result of sin and death. It is the eternal suffering and separation from God. But, the good news is that God has supplied a remedy for our death. It is in the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus, "just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man (Christ Jesus) many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12 &19). The one death we can escape is the eternal death but there is only one way to escape it and that is faith in the ONE who became sin for mankind, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
We still however, must all face that physical death unless the Lord comes before then. What should our attitude be toward this death if we are Christians? One thing we learn from writers in the New Testament is that they were not afraid to talk about death and deal with it, as hard as it may be. Jesus spoke often of his suffering and death. The Apostle Paul said that he faced death daily and that for him to live was Christ but to die was gain (Philippians 1:21). Even Peter talked about the fact that his death was imminent as the Lord had shown him. (2 Peter 1:14)
In the last post I mentioned the famine that Naomi and her family faced in Bethlehem. Famine almost certainly meant death if there was no relief from it. But, as I mentioned also, the Lord had given his people a promise to "keep them alive in famine" and they were to put their trust in HIM alone. It seems, though we cannot be sure, that Elimelech took his family to a foreign land to escape the famine and death and only to live there for a short time. We know nothing about the long years they were there except that the very thing they had tried to escape, death, had found them in the very place they had tried to escape it.
Naomi is now left alone having watched her husband and only children die in a foreign land. She has lost everything. The expectations of her wedding day are shattered, her youth is gone, her family is gone, her means of income is gone. She no longer has the support and encouragement of her friends and family from the land of Bethlehem, and she is left in a foreign land with no hope, no hope that she can see anyway. It is no wonder that her cry was, "the hand of the Lord is gone out against me". But, hope deferred is not hope denied and in her grief and bitterness she was unable to see that the Lord was not against her, but FOR her. This is something that Jacob had to learn in his affliction and it is something that both David, in Psalm 56:9 and the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:31-32 assured us of, that God is FOR US.
He was FOR us when sin and death entered the world and He gave his only begotten Son to die FOR us. And, He is for us in life, for if he has done the most for us in giving His Son, will he not do the lesser in giving us all things that pertains to life? It is hard in our grief to see the hand of God in our afflictions and to fight the temptation to say, "the hand of the LORD is gone out against me", but if we are HIS, He is never against us, he is always FOR us. Even when we sin and grieve Him and his chastening must come, we are told that His chastisement is FOR us, for our good (Hebrews 12:10-11). The real question is, "are we HIS - do we belong to the ONE who is never against us, but FOR us? Have we seen Him with eyes of Faith, dying for us? Have we placed our faith and trust in his work on the cross FOR US? If so, then He is never against us in the circumstances and losses of life.
What are you facing today? Does the thought of death frighten you? First of all we must face the fact of death. We are told, "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment, (Hebrews 9:27). That should frighten us if we do not belong to Him, but the Lord Jesus tells us that if we are His, we don't have to be afraid of death, HE has overcome it and given us victory even in death. As a Christian, it is one of the things that is ours!
But, while we live, we do face the sorrows of life, the loss of income, youth, family, friends, even our loved ones in death. How do we face these things? We grieve, yes, that is natural and normal and we should. Even Jesus in his humanity grieved over the loss of friends and the sorrows of this life because of sin and unbelief. But, we should never forget that God is not against us because of the circumstances we are facing but rather is FOR us, working all things FOR our good. Look to Him and see his hand working FOR you not against you as you face your trials. Remember that in your human disappointments, even if that disappointment is the death of a loved one, or perhaps your own coming death, that He is working His Divine Appointment and it is for your good and His glory.
We will see in the next few weeks how God worked for Naomi's (and Ruth's) good and how He reveals that He is FOR them in all of the circumstances they have had to face, including the death of their loved ones. My prayer is that you will see by faith his Hand working FOR you today and place your trust in Him.
GOD IS FOR ME, THIS I KNOW,
SO ONWARD, UPWARD WITH HIM I GO,
FACING LIFE OR FACING DEATH
HE IS FOR ME AND WORKS MY BEST.
SO ONWARD, UPWARD WITH HIM I GO,
FACING LIFE OR FACING DEATH
HE IS FOR ME AND WORKS MY BEST.
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