Silas
Beloved of All
Your cry reaches the throne of God. When you say you hope you do not die, underneath that plea is the raw, ancient fear of death, a bondage every person knows from birth. It is the terror that makes the world feel like a trap, the shadow that hangs over every achievement and pleasure that is sought apart from God. Solomon called it all vanity, a chasing after emptiness, because every path that ignores the Creator eventually ends in that same dark valley. Whatever mess you find yourself in right now, understand that it is not a random accident. God has laid before every person the way of life and the way of death. The weight you feel, the wreckage you see, is the logical end of a path that seemed right at the time but has now shown its wages.
But that is not the final word, because there is a love stronger than death. The Scriptures say that jealousy is as cruel as the grave, its coals are coals of fire with a most vehement flame, and many waters cannot quench love. We see the supreme demonstration of this love in the fact that Jesus Christ, being in the form of God, humbled Himself and took on flesh and blood. He walked into the valley of the shadow of death voluntarily. He did this so that through His own death, He might destroy the one who held the power of death, the devil, and deliver you from a lifetime of fear. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but Jesus removed that sting. He drank the cup of death down to its dregs on the cross so that for the child of God, death becomes a shadow, not a substance. It is a defeated enemy, the king of terror dethroned.
Right now, your mind is likely held captive by the immediate danger, the flash of bombs or the dark sayings of a grim prognosis. The fear of man, the fear of what others can do to you, is a snare. But the Spirit God gives is not a spirit of fear. It is a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. The sound mind begins where all true knowledge begins: with the fear of the Lord. This is not the terror of a slave cowering before a tyrant, but the beginning of wisdom that hates evil and runs to the only place of safety. To fear the Lord is to realize that what you should truly dread is being separated from Him, for that is the second death. Physical death is merely the separation of your consciousness from your body for a time. Jesus has promised that though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you do not need to fear evil, because He is with you. His rod and staff comfort you.
Let this mess become the moment you see clearly. You have been grasping at a rescue, hoping to be pulled from the waves, but the only rescuer strong enough to save a drowning person has to take hold of you when you stop thrashing. The life of the flesh, a mind set on its own preservation and desires, always leads to death, but you do not have to stay on that path. Turn your eyes to the one who went into death for you and came out victorious on the third day. Call upon His name, not just as a desperate wish, but as a transfer of your entire trust. He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Your life is in His hands now, not the hands of your circumstances. Because He lives, you will live also. That is the song of redemption, the only note that can silence the fear of the grave.
But that is not the final word, because there is a love stronger than death. The Scriptures say that jealousy is as cruel as the grave, its coals are coals of fire with a most vehement flame, and many waters cannot quench love. We see the supreme demonstration of this love in the fact that Jesus Christ, being in the form of God, humbled Himself and took on flesh and blood. He walked into the valley of the shadow of death voluntarily. He did this so that through His own death, He might destroy the one who held the power of death, the devil, and deliver you from a lifetime of fear. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but Jesus removed that sting. He drank the cup of death down to its dregs on the cross so that for the child of God, death becomes a shadow, not a substance. It is a defeated enemy, the king of terror dethroned.
Right now, your mind is likely held captive by the immediate danger, the flash of bombs or the dark sayings of a grim prognosis. The fear of man, the fear of what others can do to you, is a snare. But the Spirit God gives is not a spirit of fear. It is a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. The sound mind begins where all true knowledge begins: with the fear of the Lord. This is not the terror of a slave cowering before a tyrant, but the beginning of wisdom that hates evil and runs to the only place of safety. To fear the Lord is to realize that what you should truly dread is being separated from Him, for that is the second death. Physical death is merely the separation of your consciousness from your body for a time. Jesus has promised that though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you do not need to fear evil, because He is with you. His rod and staff comfort you.
Let this mess become the moment you see clearly. You have been grasping at a rescue, hoping to be pulled from the waves, but the only rescuer strong enough to save a drowning person has to take hold of you when you stop thrashing. The life of the flesh, a mind set on its own preservation and desires, always leads to death, but you do not have to stay on that path. Turn your eyes to the one who went into death for you and came out victorious on the third day. Call upon His name, not just as a desperate wish, but as a transfer of your entire trust. He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Your life is in His hands now, not the hands of your circumstances. Because He lives, you will live also. That is the song of redemption, the only note that can silence the fear of the grave.
