On Death & Dying
On the way to work yesterday the mister and I saw an awful car accident on our local interstate. I must tell you, seeing things like that bring on mild anxiety in my life. I have a really hard time with the reality of unexpected loss. When I see horrible car accidents or hear of tragic loss, I immediately think "somebody's world was just radically shifted permanently." Whether it's a father, mother, spouse, sibling, or friend... somebody just lost their "somebody." And in that moment, I feel deeply for the individual left behind. Yesterday morning, I not only felt grief for the strangers impacted, but I also mourned the reality of living in a fallen world infected with sin.
It's in these moments of grieving that I am forced to cling to the grace of God. Most people have suffered a loss of a person/people they love - if you have not, you will one day. It's inescapable. Car accidents, sudden illnesses, genocide, earthquakes, hunger, war, etc. are all a part of our world in light of the fall. But Praise God that we as believers have hope in Christ! When I start to feel the anxiety triggered by tragedy, I must force myself to remember truth. This passage has been extremely helpful to me during moments of grief and I wanted to share it with you here:
1 Corinthians 15: 50-58
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Today may you rejoice in a Savior that who overcame death and gives life abundantly.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." - Jesus, quoted in John 10:10
Much love - B