When all seems lost, knowing
God is all that matters.
Sensing life was coming to a close while incarcerated in a prison cell, Paul could still
say, “I know whom I have believed.” Isn’t this all that matters when life is
about to end? To know where one is going and to personally know one’s Creator?
For this reason I also suffer these things;
nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day (2 Timothy 1:12).
Was
Paul then having a whale of a time, having all the comforts and blessings which
many modern-day preachers seem so zealous in emphasising? Certainly not. Yet he
remained upbeat, unfazed and positive as he wrote a letter of encouragement and
exhortation to young Timothy.
Stephen,
in his final moments, before he died a martyr’s death by stoning, had this
beautiful vision: But
he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and
said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56).
Death by
stoning is a horrendous way to leave this earth. But with the comforting revelation that his
death was not in vain—that Jesus was ready to welcome him into the
hereafter—enduring all the pain was worth it.
We may
not have to go through such extreme situations in our final moments. However,
it behooves us to get to know our God so intimately that when the time comes we
will be ready to face our Maker with confidence, just like Paul and Stephen.
The philosopher and scientist, Blaise Pascal,
wrote: “The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great
consequence to us and which touches us so profoundly that we must have lost all
feeling to be indifferent about it.”
For
more: http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/10/setting-our-house-in-order.html
RELATED POSTS:
OVERCOMING CRISIS
Who or what do we turn to when crisis strikes? Where do we place our hope
and trust?
DON'T TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT
When believers go
through trials and tribulations, it is natural to ask God, “Why? Why does this
have to happen to me?”
No comments:
Post a Comment