Did You Read the Instructions?

Did You Read the Instructions?

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Why are we so afraid of something we have no doubt is going to happen?  Is it the fear of the unknown? Fear of leaving? Fear of not being here anymore?

The mere word death has such a macabre sound to it. It’s frightening in itself.  In movies, death is almost always related to fear and sadness, or at least those are the results. 

I’m not going to deny it, it’s a little scary to think about. I’ve sat and thought about it. I’m pretty sure everyone has, except maybe really small children.  Leaving people behind, people leaving us behind. Being alone. All are results of someone dying. 

Enter salvation. I talked with two of our men at the church Christmas party last night. We were talking about peace. Really I guess it would be called the peace of understanding. 

Have you ever not understood something? Wasn’t it frustrating? 

This happened with me once when I tried to follow the instructions when I put together a piece of furniture. The pictures made zero sense to me. The wording was equally as baffling. And here comes my wife and asks me “did you read the instructions?”  As if that was the magic answer.

Of course I didn’t read them. As a man, I attempted to first put it together by sight, then looked at the pictures and then at ultimate failure, I tried to read the instructions. And then here she comes and makes perfect sense of it all and explains it to me.  I was ready to throw it out. She made it easy to understand. She provided the understanding.

Prior to her help I was frustrated beyond belief. I let the instructions beat me. And after Ashley helped me with it, there was peace. And maybe a little humility.  She was able to explain it to me, make it clear and provide understanding.  It was peace in understanding. 

How much do we know about death? How much did we know before salvation?  It’s obvious that the more we know about our salvation and the eternality of it, the better peace we have. It’s not like anyone has lived through death and can talk about it. 

Death is certain. At least death to this world. It isn’t a maybe. It is going to happen. We can all prepare for it, try to put it off as long as possible or defeat it - it’s still going to happen. 

One of the men said last night, “there is a peace now about death that I didn’t have before because of my salvation”. 

We understand our eternal salvation which provides peace. We have our life here in this earth, death and eternal life in Heaven. You have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow. As much as you plan, it will still not tell you about tomorrow. Tomorrow is uncertain. Yet we don’t live today as afraid of tomorrow as we are of death.  The more you understand about salvation - the less you will be afraid of death. Period!

This devotion isn’t meant to give you anxiety or sadness - it should be the opposite. 

Your salvation, your belief, your understanding of heaven, it should all give you peace. Your relationship with God should be so strong that nothing is unclear. That relationship should give you complete peace as you travel from a world full of uncertainty and pain to Heaven.  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a hurry. I enjoy seeing how God is using me and what it is doing for others. Our sole existence here on earth should be to bring other people to Christ Jesus. Period. Our actions and our life should be about our Christianity, not ourselves. Too often we get caught up in the latter. 

We will never be prepared for death. But we can have the peace of understanding it. 

We can understand our salvation more by reading the Gospels of Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Pray daily and ask God to fill you with a desire to reach people. And most of all get to church and surround yourself with amazing people who share your love of Jesus. 

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

‭‭John‬ ‭16:33‬

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:3‬