Peace in death

Isaiah‬ ‭57‬:‭1‬-‭2‬

“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭57‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Just let this truth soak in today. God has designed rest for the righteous. There is rest in righteousness. That’s that’s the clear message of these verses. God’s perspective on death is vastly different from ours. The devout are taken away to be spared from evil. Sometimes Christians die young to be spared and they have peace. This isn’t something we like to consider. God deliberately taking a believer in death to spare them the evil of this world, particularly if it’s a young person. It seems tragic that they haven’t had the chance to fulfil their potential. Long life is usually regarded as a blessing from God. Death is very hard on those who are still living. Those living are hurting from missing the loved one. Many go through struggles as to why the person had to die, especially when the person was very young, and maybe in great health. It is even more difficult to see a person die young, who was a strong believer in Jesus and very active in being a witness. Looking at that person, others ask why God would remove that person because he was doing great work for God. God knows the past, present and future of every person on this earth. He knows exactly what is going to happen to that person. As a human being, we do not know those things. We do not know how rough life will get for a person if he or she stays alive, but God does. God in His great wisdom and mercy will take the life of a person in order to spare them from a great evil. Although as a human, we  will miss the person, keep in mind where a dying believer will be when they die. When a believer dies, they get to go to Jesus and be at peace and rest for the rest of eternity. They step into a world that is without pain, suffering or any evil. I find peace in these verses, I lost a brother in a car accident in 2005 he was 37 his name is Chad and I lost a daughter in a car accident in 2015 she was 24 her name is Erin. The loss brought about by the accidents brought changes to my life, setting me on a course down which I had to journey whether I wanted to or not. I was assigned both a tremendous burden and a terrible challenge. I faced the test of my life. Even though a certain event may seem to make no sense at the time, we can trust God has a purpose in all that He allows. God has given us His Word and Spirit to remind us that even in the midst of suffering we have the peace and love of our Father in heaven because of Christ our Savior. We also have a glorious eternal home awaiting us that can never be taken away. There are times when it’s difficult to understand God’s ways. However, if we seek to know God’s character and fully appreciate His love and goodness, we will find He is worthy of our trust. And yet, the beauty of these verses is that even when these things come, we can rest when we are walking uprightly with God. No matter what happens to you in this world, you have a peace that the Bible says passes all understanding, for those who are resting in Jesus and in His righteousness!!!

Father thank You for this day and all praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for You have shown us light instead of darkness, peace instead of strife, joy instead of sorrow, love instead of hatred and trust instead of fear. Lord give my friend and families Your abundant blessings today. Lord open up our lives to the enormous possibilities of our spiritual walk with You, through Your compassionate and powerful agent of grace, the Holy Spirit. Lord we want to lay our heads on our pillows tonight, having lived righteously before You. Lord at the same time, we know that we can only find total rest when we are trusting in You and in Your righteousness. Lord us my friend to be the salt and light of Your Word to all today. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !