FEAR of DEATH
By Lee LeFebre
There are people who live every day fearing
the walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Some people have good reason to fear death, because they have no sure evidence of where they will end up. Garrison Keillor (the humorist) once told a story of a man who had married several times, leaving a trail of women and children behind. Keillor said this man left instructions that, upon his death, his remains were to be cremated, and his ashes scattered over the ocean. Keillor’s take on this was the guy wanted to make it hard for God to find him!
Death represents a loss of control. Many people falsely believe that they have not lived one day of their lives out of control. Control mechanisms can only pre- vent death to a point. For example, we can do things to help prevent heart attacks, but they are not guaranteed to work. We might be able to control diet, but we can- not control stray bullets, drunken drivers, mis- diagnoses, terrorist attacks, school shootings, hurricanes, aneurysms, and other tragedies and diseases beyond our limited power.
People have an illusion
that they can control their lives, and it terrifies them to think they need to give up all rights to what happens to them in a presentation of themselves to the Lord. Implied in such a presentation is the willingness to be obedient to God and his delegated authorities. One must give up all rights to what happens to him, and become willing to give thanks in all things without figuring out why! I beseech you there- fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be con- formed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2). Then, and only then, will Christ fill us with his presence, eliminating fear of death and subjection to this bondage. ...through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Destroy here means, “render ineffective” or “render powerless.” Peace and calm are in Christ.
The idea that we can control
what happens in our lives, in such a way as to prevent death, is an illusion. We are not omniscient, therefore, we have a need to surrender to the one who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He alone can keep us in safety if he pleases.
To eliminate the fear of death, the believer must make a conscious decision to trust God. He must violate his natural inclination to stabilize his life before he abandons himself to God. Waiting is intended to guarantee he will never need to make a full surrender.
When the peace comes, the believer will find that God had no desire to control him after all, but merely wanted to set him free from the tyranny of self- sufficiency. God himself has no desire to make a believer a puppet, but rather to break self’s rule and enable the Christian to become obedient to the Spirit voluntarily. Only then can God protect us and only then will we want to obey Him.
John 5:24 has long been a comforting
verse to me... Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
I find two comforting thoughts in this verse. First, the believer will not be judged, except for good works. We are judgment-exempt, because the perfect track record of Jesus Christ is substituted for our track record when his righteousness became ours. Second, the only death we will ever experience is past tense. We were dead in Adam. Believers have eternal life. Eternal life cannot and will not die. The life we have— His life—will always live. We need not fear death, because we don’t die. Our body merely drops off! How good is that? And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).
Fear of Abandonment
This fear too is based on false premises. We will never find the lie causing this fear if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to take us through the terrorizing feelings of abandonment, to the ultimate source of the lie’s power. I must make a decision to let abandonment happen, to find out what is on the other side of this fear. When we discover the lie and quit using fleshly means to keep abandonment from happening, Christ will show up as our life-source, causing this fear to disappear.
The fear of abandonment often stems from abandonment by significant people during one’s childhood. It can also arise from growing up in families who threaten to remove love, support, and security if certain conditions are not met. Pride may prevent the per- son who is threatened from succumbing to such manipulation, but the emotional damage is done. Anger, however, can be a camouflage, hiding the true source of pain. When the anger is dealt with, the source of the fear may be exposed.
Next: Fear of Loss.
