Fear of death – RefreshHer

Are you afraid right now? Do worry and anxiety threaten to overwhelm your heart? Listen to these statements:

Fear fears joy.

If your family sees you paralyzed by fear, they have to conclude that you do not think that God is all-powerful

We fear God because we do not know Him very well

Why is it people can change your countenance, but God can’t?

These are all quotes from a book I read past month. It has been in my possession for several years. I’m not sure why I had never read it, except for the fact that I know that reading it at this time in my life was perfect. The book title?

Fear Not. Meditations to Overcome Fear, Worry and Discouragement. It’s written by Rand Hummel, a good friend and a preacher who knows how to communicate.

I honestly would have told you that I’m not a fearful person…until I read this book! The book addresses so many areas in our lives that fear touches –

the fear of failure,

dying,

public speaking,

rejection,

being hurt in relationships,

the future

and on and on.

Today we hear the word fear on a daily basis as people deal with the threat of the Coronavirus infecting them. The thoughts of sickness and death bring fear to many. Rand’s approach to each fear is pointing the reader’s attention to what the Bible says. He shares examples of people in Scripture who had that fear and how God helped them.

Every morning when I would read and meditate on the passages shared, my heart was so strengthened and encouraged!

One night this week I went to bed not feeling very well. I was awakened in the middle of the night with a gripping fear and thinking about the virus. Immediately, truths I had read in this little 159 page book came to my mind and I ran to the Lord in prayer. Soon I was back asleep.

I would highly encourage you to get a copy of the book. You can find it in the link above. There’s a Kindle edition, too, so you could have it in your possession as soon as today!

God doesn’t just want us to sleep well. He wants us to trust Him and this little book can be a great avenue to show you how and why you can!

What worries you the most right now? I’d love to pray for you if you’d either leave a comment or send me an email using the email address in the contact page.

Hi friends! I’m back! To you perhaps I was only gone yesterday, but I’ve been away for a week and a half. We had family vacation that was such a precious time, and I might also add, very needed. We tend to go at break-neck speed, so getting out of town to rest and refresh is truly critical for ministry families (and I’m sure every other family!!). We got to spend those days at the ocean. Here’s a totally unedited picture of the sunrise on our last day there…

Beach Sunrise 1a.jpg

That was well worth getting up early to see!

I was amazed that there were a few people walking away from the sunrise that morning instead of towards it! Why would you turn your back on something so beautiful? I couldn’t understand that one!

We got home from vacation on Sunday and while we were unpacking the car, we learned that a dear man in our church had been taken to the hospital. We dropped everything and went to spend the evening with him and his daughter. He’s a precious member of our church and truly like family to us. We went to the hospital, not watching the clock, but his face, and also his chest rising slowly with each deliberate breath. This event changed everything his week would have looked like. Instead of being in the comfort of his home, he was being poked and probed, and was now confined to a small room with beeping machines and IV drips that allowed him to sleep. It seems that his day to leave this world is imminent. Scripture tells us…

It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

I visited him in his hospital room again yesterday. As I drove home later in the day, I thought about all the people passing by me in their cars, scurrying here and there, sure they’re going to have tomorrow, making plans as though they’ll live forever. Some are ignoring God and His call to trust Christ for salvation. They assume that this thing of dying is far off. They are like the people on the beach who were walking away from the sunrise, ignoring the fact and the beauty that was just behind them.

These moments are appointed to each of us. If Christ doesn’t return first, we will each die. We will each have a change in the plans we were making for that day. Do you understand that death can be, not just a fact, but a beautiful thing? Oh the process can be ugly and hard, but the end result of death is seen in this verse as being precious…

Psalm 115:16 – Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

Psalm 23 reminds us that death is only a shadow, and a shadow cannot hurt you. For our dear friend, when he takes his last breath here, he will open His eyes in heaven.

Absent from the body present with the Lord! II Corinthians 5:6

He has this assurance because He received Christ as His Savior for His sins. He trusted in what Christ did for him on the cross and those truths make dying beautiful. Our friend’s death, whenever it happens, has reminded me that death is like that sunrise – it will happen, and I can look forward to it and see the beauty in it.

Are you turning your back on the reality of death? If you’re afraid, is it because you don’t have an assurance of eternity with the Lord? Trust Him today to save you and receive the joy of walking with Him here, and having the comfort of a beautiful meeting in heaven One Day!

Denise