Confront Death

 

    When life is hard or you are dealing with death, it is okay to ask God why.  Just don't stop there.  Take a real look at your life, the world around you, your prayer life, and if you are listening to God.  Many things have nothing to do with you.  It is just life, but some things that go wrong in your life is because of things that you did.  Are you willing to face your failures, disappointments, or anything else to make life better?

    Have faith and know that God is with you.  If you are a part of God's family, then He will not abandon you.  He is right there in the pain with you.  Accept this as a part of God's plan and trust that it will get better eventually.  Pray boldly for your life and the lives of those you love.  Live abundantly victorious even it if your life is not how you pictured it.  You are a live today, so make today count.

    The widow that Elijah stayed with had a young son.  Some time after Elijah had come to stay with them, the boy became very sick.  He continued to decline and eventually died.  The widow had already lost her husband, livelihood, and now her son.  She didn't know what to do with herself, so she blamed Elijah.  

    She still had God though and He was looking out for her.  This may have been the very reason He had sent Elijah to the home.  Elijah took care of the body and prayed over it.  He hurt over the death too.  He asked God to return life to the child and the child was revived.  He took the boy back to his mother and she became a believer in God that day.

    Give your whole life to God and trust that He will use it for good.  That way when you do face death, you will have no regrets.  You will be ready.  We all will face it one day, so why not be in a place where you are okay with that fact.  God brings people back from the brink of death, even from death occasionally, but it is only temporary.  We have an expiration date that will not be avoided.  

    You don't always get what you want in life, so what.  What you do get could be better for you.  If it brings you closer to God, then it is better to have nothing in this world.  He will do what is best for you, your journey with Him, and His big picture.

    Lay your questions about life and death at Jesus' feet.  He is the expert who can answer anything.  Dive into God's Word and the Holy Spirit will reveal things to you.  Find your private place where you can go to pray, meditate, be in God's Word, and work out issues without fear or interruption.  This is your safe place you can go to every day with the expectation of encountering God there.  

    Be honest with yourself and God about how you feel about death.  He cares about your perspective and will realign it if it is off.  Speak boldly about what you need.  To confront death is not run towards it.  It is accepting the inevitable in whatever format it will come in, but living life to the fullest every day.

1 Kings 17:17-24, Psalm 23, John 11:27-37, & Revelations 21:3-4