Prepared To Die versus Prepared To Live?

John 14:1 – “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
A family member of mine is in dire straits because of a freak accident. I should interject, within the Body of Jesus Christ, is there such an animal as a freak accident? I think we all know better, but we don’t live out our daily lives like we know better. In fact, we usually live out our lives quite willing to accommodate freak accidents, and I think that kind of response is based more on doubt than belief. (I can just imagine God turning to Jesus as the freak accident happened, wringing His hands and saying in consternation, “I never saw this one coming, what on earth are we going to do?”). Silly, isn’t it? And yet, that’s truly the way we act when tragic things happen to us or those we know. It’s doubt and it’s unbelief.
Consequently, we usually find it incumbent to prepare ourselves and our loved ones for the worst. Questions: Who does this serve if not ourselves, and what is the compulsion based on if not doubt and unbelief. Another question: Does preparing ourselves for the worst ever have any positive effect on the victim? Ever?
And so, my key question is this: If we go to church and say we believe the scripture quoted above, don’t our well-intentioned death preparations testify that we are hypocrites? If we indeed were not hypocrites, wouldn’t we find it more natural to prepare for the best? I’m in my sixth decade and I’ve never known this to happen even one time! Let’s face it, whether we prepare for the worst or the best, both are faith-responses.
So what if we do prepare for the best and the worst happens? My response to that is this: “So what?” Isn’t it a lot like being afraid to love because then you might risk getting hurt? Is becoming unloving and emotionally distant really living? Of course not, it is rather the routine response of cowards. So do you want to be a church-based hypocrite and a coward? Do you want your kids to see that example? They may not always add things up in your words, but they know the truth when they hear it – and they know cowardice when they see it.
Now I know some might read this piece and say with conviction, “How dare you say these things when you are not in the front lines (like me)?” Perhaps they should reckon this: we all live on planet earth, the Dark Planet, probably alone in the universe in concentrated rebellion against God, and as such – sooner or later we all get our turn in the front line – like it or not. And if Jesus doesn’t intervene, no one gets out of here alive.
Like every person I’ve ever known or known about, I don’t know why some are not healed; wish I did, and maybe I will someday…but until then, I don’t think Jesus died so I could routinely prepare myself for the worst. He came to give us Life, and I can’t find any life in preparing for the worst, in fact, I postulate that to some degree, it actually empowers the spirit of death.
All of our decisions empower something and someone in the spiritual realm, and I’d rather be prepared for life with Jesus, than preparing for the worst without Him. And when I’m disappointed, Jesus is still better company than the death merchants.
John
My choice – you should make your own.

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