CONQUERING FEAR PART 1
He has planted eternity in the human heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
In the past two months my father was diagnosed with a dangerous colon cancer, and I discovered I have a benign brain tumor. What was my first response in both cases? Fear. Why? Why do situations like these cause all of us to have fear? Well, for me it was a fear of death. I was afraid of losing my dad, and until I found out that it was a benign tumor that didn’t need surgery, I was afraid for my own life. Why even as a Christian was I afraid to die? Why was I afraid of death for my dad who I know is saved? Because I was afraid of losing the relationships with the people I love. Why? Because there is never enough time to be with the people you love. Why? Because eternity is in the human heart.
We were created in the image of God who is eternal. We were never created to die. Death is not “natural,” it’s a result of sin. It’s the aftermath of the fall of man. Its not supposed to be this way and our hearts intuitively know that death is wrong. Anyone who has lost a loved one even a pet knows this in their heart. It hurts so bad because our spirit is dealing with something its not designed to handle. God didn’t originally create us to die.
As I prayed for peace and went to the Lord for comfort, He led me to start studying the resurrection. Why? Because that is the Christian hope. God has shown me that true love demands eternity NOW. We need to know that we know right now that we won’t truly die and that we will see our loved ones again in order to have peace. True love demands true hope, which is a certainty of good things to come. Stay tuned. Next time I will tell the story of how the resurrection of Jesus Christ has brought joy and peace into my heart in these difficult times. Learn how we can conquer the fear of death. Jesus did it for us!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:3–7
GregV TheWord MD, Spiritual Doctor