DEATH’S TIMING IS KNOWN TO ONLY GOD!
Focus Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Ecclesiastes 9:12
Each day we are made aware of the loss of life, not just locally from within our families, friends, churches and communities, but globally from outbreaks, disasters, mass shootings, natural disasters, famine (human neglect of other humans), political upheavals, fires, floods, accidents and war.
Death is a reality of life. None escapes it. It is totally non-discriminatory. Every evil and every good man (or woman or child) will experience that finality.
How we view death is the question!
Do we view it on a continuum scale of life’s journey? If this is your view, then disruptions, accidents, diseases and unexplained occurrences that cut lives short will cause you confusion, angst, anxiety, fear, depression, or even to turn away from your relationship with God because you “don’t understand how a Loving God could ‘allow’ someone’s early demise/death.”
But these thoughts and rationales are not Biblical.
Our focus Scriptures are yet another reflection of God’s Love for us. He has taken away the fear of death by telling us in advance that death will come to us all. As we live, He has given us advance warning that you will also die.
Next, God tells us that no man knows the day or the hour.
Now, as those who suffer the loss – we who are left behind, (as the departed, if saved, move onto another realm of existence with God) – this forewarning does not eliminate the sting of death, but it should move and cause us to value each minute of our lives and that of our Loved ones as precious, unpredictable and limited time together.
We should live absorbing each shared encounter, leaving nothing unsaid, choosing our words carefully (as there is life and death in the power of our tongues) and expressing Love, kindness, and goodwill. As parents we have the added responsibility of imparting spiritual knowledge, and preparing our children for life without us and independent living in Christ. This is what our life’s guidebook — The Bible — is there for. It is our roadmap to God, living a full life in Him, in our marriages, child-rearing, familial relationships and Christian friendships.
This past week hundreds of thousands of men, women and children transitioned out of this realm. There were high profile people that died and lesser knowns – but all are equal in God’s sight and all their lives mattered to Him and someone.
Herein is my lesson. I spent many years as an investigative reporter and producer for an American crime show traversing the northern hemisphere profiling some of the most horrific crimes. Each show I produced involved interviewing and meeting with “those left behind!” The husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, siblings, parents, family and friends of the deceased.
Their grief filled the room and was very palpable. I was often first a counselor before the reporter.
As Christian first, I sought to comfort and help them as they struggled with the ‘why’s’ which is just where Satan wanted them to be and what that old devil wanted them focused on — Questioning God!
How do you counsel a young man who has lost his only parent, his mom, who was kidnapped, violently raped, tortured, beaten nearly to instant death and then the perpetrator commits yet another atrocity on what remains of her by shoving a stick of dynamite into her female genitalia to destroy his DNA evidence?
Horrific and incomprehensible, but that is commonplace among the evil, demonic spirits that are guided by Satan.
Here is what I shared. To everyone there is a time to be born and a time to die. No one leaves this earthly realm one second sooner or later. A time is appointed to us all. God forewarned us in His Word. However the age, and circumstances of our death or loss of a Loved one is the unknown—for The Bible says “no one knows the day or the hour”, none but Our Creator.
Death and how we respond to it is a pivotal test of our faith.
Not everyone gets to live a long life. Some die within minutes of their birth. Some their appointed time to die may involve a motor accident, heinous murder, cancer, disease, drowning, fire, earthquake, tsunami, on the operating table, etc., etc. We don’t all get to pass away gently in our sleep. Violence may be involved—BUT, I would say, no matter the circumstances that was that person’s day to transition. Whole families may go together, but ALL of them were preordained to leave at that time. God makes No Mistakes. However, that old devil Satan seeks to deceive us in order to kill us spiritually by having us focus on the circumstances.
God doesn’t want us bound up by the circumstances. He wants us focused on our salvation and that of our Loved ones and His promises and Jesus’ sacrifice for us that we will enjoy eternal life after this existence, free from sin and demonic influence, by making sure we have given our lives to Him so that when our time is up, no matter the circumstances, death has No Sting!
This is how we face tomorrow. This is how we run our race. This is how we have hope for our tomorrow and the reassurance of being able to see our Loved ones again.
Grieving should not be a lifetime if you truly believe and have faith in God! Weeping endures for a night, but joy, pure joy comes in the morning through the knowledge that we have a home beyond this world and those who have gone before us, that are saved, (please always share The Good News and The Prayer of Salvation- just plant the seed is all God asks), await our reunification.
Father God, we thank you for Your Word that teaches, guides, forewarns, uplifts, comforts, corrects and helps us live a purpose-filled and driven life! Let us honor You through the sharing of The Gospel, The Prayer of Salvation and The Good News each and everyday through our words, deeds and actions. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 – Your Servant, Rita
Focus Scriptures : Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ~ “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 ~ “For man also knoweth not his time: As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
MrsRitaOluwole 