Death is an inescapable conclusion to this life. Although death’s outcome—cessation of physiological signs of life—is inevitable, the when and how details are often unpredictable. Yet isn’t death, albeit a serious outcome, one of the many unknowns that life presents?
As humans, we face life’s unknowns—over and over. Where do I go? What now? How will I get through this? What do I do when faced with life’s challenges? Just as I submit my current situations to God’s will, so I need to trust Him with future unknowns.
My transition from earth to heaven remains an unknown. What will my last days in this world look like? Cancer? Stroke? Car accident? Dementia-related decline? Will I find out in five, ten, or twenty years? Or will death surprise me in months, weeks, or even days?
A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. Job 14:5 NIV
How my earthly life will end, I cannot predict. But I trust the one true God who will be with me through dying, death, and my transition to heaven.
A cross may stand above my buried bones some day, or my remains may be scattered across the ground. No matter what happens to my body after I die, my soul’s certainty is because of the cross. My Savior Jesus Christ died on that cross, thereby saving me from my sins and the resulting eternal punishment. Jesus took the penalty of my sins—and the sins of all who believe in Him—to that cross. Jesus’ death on the cross makes all the difference to me, both in this world and the next. God’s Word tells me that because I believe in Jesus, I am assured of eternal life with Him in heaven.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
From Jesus on His cross to the repentant thief on a nearby cross:
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
That is my ongoing hope and future: to join my forgiving Savior in paradise when I die. I have no idea about God’s timing for my transition from earth to heaven. So my focus for now is to continue serving Jesus while I live on this earth.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
Lord God, please teach me to submit everything to your will. Not just death, but help me trust your way in every unknown I face. I want to entrust my future, however long or short it may be, to your timing. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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