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What to Do When You’re Afraid of Dying · Daily Devotions for Busy Lives

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  Track 1: The nurse had been to this a long time. She had been
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  to the bedside of more dying people than she could count, in
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  hospital rooms and back bedrooms. She thought she had seen every
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  way a person could meet the end. There were the fighters and the
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  ones who slipped off in their sleep before anyone noticed. But
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  over the years, she started to notice something she couldn't
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  explain at first. There was a pattern, and she could see it in
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  their faces. Some people came to the end of life, came to the
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  edge terrified. Their eyes searched the room like they were
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  looking for an exit that wasn't there. Others arrived at that
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  same place, that same edge, looking almost ready, like they
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  were waiting for a door to open. She mentioned it one day to a
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  pastor she knew. She told him that some patients were much
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  more restless at the end than others, and that the difference
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  showed up in how it went. The truth was, she had noticed which
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  patients came to the end at peace, and she had a theory
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  about why. We'll come back to what she told him. But
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  first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
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  Bart Leger. I've spent three decades being with families and
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  with individuals who were facing death and the families who had
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  just lost a loved one. Hospital rooms and living rooms both. And
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  I've seen the difference between these two kinds of people in
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  those hours, the ones who weren't sure where they were
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  going or where their loved one had gone, and they're the ones
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  whose faith was in Christ. Some of you reached the stage where
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  you thought of dying more than you used to. A friend your age
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  got a diagnosis, or your body's been letting you know it's older
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  than it was, and the thought is popping up more and more lately.
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  And you probably haven't said it to anybody. Bringing up your own
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  death at the dinner table, well, that kind of tends to end the
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  conversation. So you keep it to yourself. And keep it to
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  yourself is what allows that fear to grow. Paul had something
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  to say to the Corinthians about this. It's in 2 Corinthians 5,
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  verses 6 through 8.
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  Start with a picture Paul uses a few verses earlier, because I
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  think it sets up everything else that follows. In verse 1, he
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  calls this body an earthly tent. And he says,
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  So Paul had your body down, that's temporary from the start,
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  and he said that the permanent one is already built. Then look
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  at what he places that confidence in. Verse 5 said,
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  The word there is a business term, the down payment you made
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  to prove the rest was coming. So the confidence has God's
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  guarantee, has the money on the table, so to speak. Now, here's
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  the verse in the middle, and it's the one I want you grab
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  onto. For we live by faith and not by seeing. Paul drops that
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  sentence right into the middle of a paragraph about dying. So
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  whatever he's confident about, it rests on what God promised
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  and put a deposit on. It was never about what we could see.
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  Think about what your own fear does. Your fear works entirely
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  on what you can see or what you're afraid of, which is a
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  body wearing out and a date in the future you don't know. Paul
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  says, The thing that you're standing on was never in that
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  category. Then look at verse 8 and what Paul prefers. He'd
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  rather be away from this body, and he gives the reason for it.
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  Then we'll be at the home with the Lord. The pull is about
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  who's waiting on the other side. And if you're thinking you
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  shouldn't be afraid of this at all, look at Gethsemane. Jesus
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  told his friends his soul was crushed to the point of death.
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  And then he asked his father whether the cup could be taken
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  away. The Son of God prayed about his own dying and asked
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  out loud for another way. So God's not going to be put off
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  when you bring him your fear. His son brought him the same
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  thing. The difference, though, she told him, came down to one
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  thing. This is what she told the pastor, whether the person knew
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  where they were going. The ones with faith in Christ, she said,
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  seemed to die calmly. There was a look of contentment on their
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  faces, even as their bodies gave out. The ones without it often
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  seemed to fight it, even after they'd stopped responding. The
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  pastor took it to heart. His own mother-in-law was in her 90s, a
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  Christian her whole life. When he asked her about dying, she
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  told him she was eager to go and completely at peace about it.
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  That kind of peace has a source. She already knew the address of
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  the place she was headed. That peace rested on something
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  outside her. She had an address and she knew it. And her faith
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  was in Christ alone. Here's today's challenge. Tell God what
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  you're afraid of about dying. Tell him what the fear is made
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  of because he's not learning anything from you. He already
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  knows. Then read 2 Corinthians 5 all the way through the first 10
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  verses. Then read it slowly again. And pay attention to how
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  many times Paul says he's confident. And then tell
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  somebody else. It might be your spouse. It might be a friend
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  from church who won't look down on you, won't change the subject
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  on you. Father, your son said his own soul was crushed at the
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  thought of what was coming. And he took it straight to you.
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  Thank you that you put a deposit on the promise so we never had
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  to take it alone. For everybody listening who lies awake with
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  this, give them the words to bring to you tonight. And let
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  them know the address of where they're headed. In Jesus' name,
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  amen. If you need prayer today, I'd love to hear from you. You
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  can leave me a voicemail at dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
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  slash voicemail. I listen to every single one and it would be
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  an honor to bring your name before the Lord. Thank you for
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  joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, Paul
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  put believing and not seeing right in the middle of a
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  paragraph about dying. Bring him what you're afraid of today.
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  Come back next time for more encouragement to help you live
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  grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a great
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  day.