Pages: 1
For those struggling with sin
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: JeriRose12
From my emails (~JeriRose~)
The Sting of Death
By Desiree Snider
Recently, I began to wonder about the feelings we go through when we 'Die Already!' to the flesh, as a great man of God says. One of the most common ways to describe going through a death would be, "I feel like even the Lord has forsaken me!" Even Jesus' last words were, "My Father, My father, why have you forsaken me?" It is just a known thing that when you die to self, you die ALONE!
.But do we? Does the Lord really leave us in the depths of despair as we agonize in our suffering? Do we really die alone? As I was pondering these questions the answer just popped into my spirit. NO!
It says in Hebrews 13:5 that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. He is with us always! As my little nieces would say, "Jesus is in my heart wherever I go." The Lord will never turn His back on us, in fact even if we wanted Him to, it could not happen.
So WHY then? Why do I feel so totally alone when I am 'going through a death'?
Let us first take a quick look at what exactly death is. In a nutshell, death is finally 'giving into' and acknowledging that I am a failure in a particular area. You truly see that you are a sinner and at times this in itself can be crushing. You have an area in your life that for so long you have been struggling to overcome. You've been pushing and striving, swimming against the tide, barely keeping your head above water to get over this 'thing' in your life. Then suddenly a tidal wave comes and smacks you in the head and you realize you're fighting a losing battle and CAN'T do it anymore. This is when death sets in. (And can also be likened to the teaching on leg breaking.)
It says in Isaiah 53:6 That Jesus took the sin of the world on His shoulders. That sounds to me like quite a wallop from a tidal wave there. Here is Jesus, sinless, a perfect human being. Then as He hangs on the cross the weight of the world's sin comes upon Him. I believe that at that point He went through a spiritual death. His last words reflect this quite clearly.
So then back to our question, if the Lord never forsakes me, why does it feel like He has? The answer is quite simple really and can be found in these two verses:
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.
1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, [then] have we confidence towards God.
As soon as that tidal wave hits you, your sin comes upon you. You are consumed with the reality of your sin. You can't see anything else but the filth and dirt. You want to die in the natural it is so painful! (If you've been there you'll know what I'm talking about.) In this state our heart is condemning us and we truly do not have confidence toward Him. His presence is gone and all you can feel is the horrible feeling of being a complete pathetic sinner.
Now that you're all depressed... Take heart! For though you might feel like He is not there, He has not forsaken you. Jesus is right there to comfort you and He longs to put His arms around you. The problem is that you are too busy drowning in the knowledge of your sin to look up and see He is there.
If you're struggling against that tidal wave, just give up. Just raise your hands to the cross and let the nails get hammered deep into your flesh. Let that tidal wave throw you upside down and all over the place.
Because when you do it, and only when you do it, the Lord will pluck you up out of the water. He will dry you off and give you new clothes. Just like Jesus on the day He resurrected, you will come to life and feel His beautiful presence once again.
Posted by: pickone
JeriRose, thank you for posting this encouraging word.