“I’m afraid to die…”
I hear this phrase a lot, especially from students that I teach, but also occasionally from adults. The fact is we all will die someday. It’s one of those facts of life that we all try to not think about. Sometimes, though, with thoughts of death, fear can grip us so tightly that it controls our thoughts and actions.
I used to have that kind of fear quite often until I was about 8 years old. My dad woke me up before sunrise one morning and said hardly a word except “follow me”. We went outside and walked to the back of our property into an open field filled with growing cotton and trees bordering it.
He reminded me that I am a forgiven Son of God, and that anything that happens to me is in His hands and for His purposes. Then he said, “just watch”. We stood there quietly as the sky began to lighten and the first rays of the sun began to crest the horizon. He looked at me and said, “isn’t today a good day to die?”
Standing there witnessing a small example of God’s glory in a sunrise, I instantly understood. If I must die someday, if today is the day the Lord wants me with Him, then today is as good as any to die. If today is not my day, then I want to live today as if it’s my last and plan on meeting Him tomorrow.
I don’t know how to explain the peace I felt in that moment. But from that day forward I knew that if God doesn’t allow it, nothing can take me. And if God does allow it, it’s because He wants me with Him to share in an eternity of sunrises.
I hope this helps someone…
