Are You Afraid of Death?

Afraid of death?

Most people, whether Christian or unbelievers, have their own in-depth fear of dying. This certainly is understandable for the persons who have not accepted Christ as their Savior. However, let us examine encouragements for Christians to not to be afraid of dying.

Fear of death may be an indication for not trusting God and not applying the reality of Christ’s resurrection. If we trust God, there should be some indication that when Jesus conquered death by his own resurrection, we accept and apply the power of God over death to ourselves.

This leaves us with the question of how to increase our trust in God so that we are not afraid. How do we trust him so much that whatever happens in our lives even to the point of death we have no fear? Whether it’s trusting another person or trusting God the motivation is the same. That is the subject of our trust knowing that God has a good track record on which we can base our trust. Look back at your history with God.

Speaking for myself, allow me to share some examples of how God met my needs. I needed to have emergency open heart surgery several years ago. Later people were bewildered that I had no fear when I was being wheeled into the operating room. I replied that either way I was a winner. If I died, I would be with the Lord. If I lived, I would be with my family and friends.

My wife’s grandmother passed away, but she had to drive by herself to Kentucky to be with the family for the funeral. I could not leave the church at the same time she left. On my way to meet my wife It was a very dark night with heavy rain. I began to hydroplane as I faced a sharp turn. Ahead was a telephone pole that if I hit it, I would be severely injured or killed. Believe it or not, I could actually feel an angel’s intervention. The car moved to that curve avoiding the pole, so I had no accident at all.

We were on vacation in Myrtle Beach. It was early in the morning. Everyone else was still asleep. I took my fishing pole and waded to the shallow waves of the ocean. I saw a man further out in the water. I decided since he could go out that far so could I. I did not take into consideration that he was taller than me nor did I take into consideration or know anything about under tows. The water began to pull me out away from shore and under the surface of the water. The man I saw made his way to the shore. When my head bobbed up, I could see that he cast his line to me. I reached out and felt his fishing line in my hand. I wrapped it around three of my fingers holding tight while he pulled me in to land. His name was Byron Reed. I will never forget his name. About 3 inches from my hand was a lure that had three hooks on it which could easily have stabbed me, but it did not, and I was safe.

So, you see that I have an actual recognition of God’s reliability that calls me to trust him more. We can talk about our relationship with God which includes trust, but do we really trust him? To strengthen our trust, we need to recall a history with God on which we can build that trust so that when we face traumatic events we need not fear even to the point of death.

In first Thessalonians 3: 13-18 Paul gives us a strong argument not to fear death. He says for us not to sorrow as those that have no hope. Should a person die, leave this body he would immediately be with Jesus. In second Corinthians 3: 4, 5 Paul encourages us to realize we can have trust in God; not trust that we create but that God is our sufficiency to trust. Our trust is vitally connected with the hope that we have in Christ. Chapter 4: 8-18 Paul shared some of his personal experiences speaking of being persecuted and troubled all of which could happen to us. In verse fourteen, we discover that the same power which raised Jesus from the dead is the same power for ourselves from God. In chapter 5, Paul spoke of an earnest desire to leave the body so that he could be in heaven. To him it was a delightful thought. He went further to say that when we are in this body, we are absent from the Lord. In 5: 8 he said that he would rather be absent from the body so that he could be present with the Lord.

Let us gather these thoughts together so that we would know more about faith, hope, and trust as vital parts of our Christian lives. So then if we truly believe Jesus was resurrected and so will we be resurrected we have no need to fear death. If we extend faith to God in hope, we have no reason to fear death. If we continue to say we fear, our project is not to be concerned about death but to be concerned about how strong we are in the Lord. Our concern is to verify ourselves that we truly have faith, we truly hope, and we truly trust in Jesus. This means the sincerity of our Christian experience will drive away our fear of death. To die is to experience what Jesus did. To die is to experience the resurrection that Jesus had. One more thought appears in first Corinthians 15: 53 – 57. Paul recognized that the victory of resurrection of Jesus preceded us in which we have victory over death. We have the victory, not death! Concentrate on the power of God and not the image of the earthly but the image of the heavenly.

Trust is not a matter of emotions. It is a mental/rational/logical decision. It is reflected by the following Christian song from days gone by in which the writer shares his relationship with God.