One day a young man asked his Master, “I do experience fear of death. How can I get rid of this fear?”
“Tell me,” the old man answered, “When you borrow a few coins, are you afraid to give them later back?”
“Of course not,” the student answered with surprise, “but what does this have to do with my fear?”
The teacher picked up a small piece of soil from the ground and continued, “You have received your body in debt with required return. And every bite of bread eaten by you, every sip of water drank by you increases that debt.
You are made from dust on which you walk and the ground is your main creditor, constantly reminding you of this debt. It is pulling you down towards it. In the end, the ground will swallow you whole, without any remains.”
The old man threw the soil into the air, after attaining its fall, he finished, “No matter how high you rise, how long you are in the flight, you will still need to go down. That is given. And to cope with the fear of this fall is very easy – stop thinking about yourself as the master of your body.
Face the thought that you are just a tenant. And because you don’t know the length of your rent, remember that it can end at any second. We are all debtors, and our debts will certainly be recovered, no matter if we are afraid of it or not. So is there a point of being afraid?”…
The characteristics of a person include; movement, respiration, feeding, growth, excretion and death. If you were not afraid of feeding and respiring, then it is also a normal phenomenon that death will take its course one day. Hebrew chapter 9 verse 27 says: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”.
The characteristic of death is so scary because it terminates the existence of life. But there are ways to overcome the fear of death.
5 Strong Weapons that Defeat Death
1. Respect the Life-Giver
The fear of death will always overwhelm you if there is no understanding that God is the only One who gives you the gift of life every day. Whenever you sleep and wake up, it is not an automatic process. The Lord approves your living every day.
You must always respect God, the Life-Giver by giving thanks to Him. He promised to give long life: “They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” (Isaiah chapter 65 verse 22)
Besides, the Lord is not to be blamed for anyone struck by death. It was designed that everyone must die, to continue another life into eternity.
2. Get to know who is Death!
The fear of death will melt away from your heart if you know his identity. Death is a servant and not a supreme being. Death does not have his barrack on earth, but in the spiritual realm.
The good news for every Christian is that Jesus is powerful than death. Death cannot touch you if your time is not ‘ripe’ to join Jesus in Heaven. Psalm 23 verse 4 says: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Unbelievers will suffer the fear of death, because the absence of Jesus in their lives gives death the liberty to sting them.
“I can’t forget my experience with Death in the sixth month of year 2000… Death was leading me to the grave, but the Lord instructed death to let go. And life came into my dead body once again”!
Don’t be afraid of death because the key to his stronghold is with Jesus. He says in Revelation chapter 1 verse 18: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
3. Wash Your Hands from Sins
Sin gives authority to Death to sting the life of the sinners. An example of such is king Herod, the book of Act chapter 12 verses 23 says: “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”
When your heart suffers the fear of death, then it might be a sign that sin had crept into your life. So, check and balance your lifestyle with the Bible.
The short life span in our generation is caused by disobedience to the godly guidelines in the Bible. Majority does not want to obey any instruction in the Bible, and they love to live a careless life. Unluckily, the false preachers in the church are not helping matters.
Major causes of death include sinful lifestyles such as; alcoholism, wild parties, bad feeding habit (gluttony), abortion, hatred (terrorism, serial killing…) and lack of good rest (Sabbath).
If you want to overcome the fear of death, then settle down with God for a ‘serious business’. Give your body, mind and spirit to Jesus. And live a holy lifestyle according to the Bible.
4. Word of God Erases Fear of Death
Fear of death might want to engulf you when on a sick-bed or going through hard times. The best way to overcome such fear is through reading the Bible. Always recite the promise of God for you in the holy Bible.
When the fear of death troubles your heart, fight back with prayers and bible studies. It is dangerous to curse or get depressed when you experience unwanted conditions of life, because such act gives death the legal right to sting.
5. Know Your Eternal Home
It is not difficult to know your eternity. Scriptures says by their fruits you shall know them. If you live a holy lifestyle according to the Bible, then your name will be written in the book of life according to Revelation chapter 3 verse 5: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
So, the fear of death will melt away if you live a holy life in Jesus Christ every day.
Whenever death comes near you, the Spirit of the Lord will give you the confidence that Heaven is your home. Thus, you won’t be afraid of death. Proverbs chapter 14 verse 32 says: “The wicked is banished in his wickedness, but the righteous has a refuge (hope) in his death.”
The fear of death is not a weapon that can destroy the faith of genuine Christians. Thus, focus your faithful heart to the LORD daily and no fear of death can threaten your peace.