I am dying – Part 2, I am Afraid!

If you have not read Part 1 of this post then you missed the first step you need to take to deal with death. Please read Part 1 which is just below this post.
Introduction:
Death is a sorrow which is common to all men, but that does not make it easier for you to deal with it. Along with the realization that death may soon be upon you comes all kinds of emotional and spiritual issues.  While you can try to ignore or deny these issues, they remain waiting to be resolved so that you can die in peace and with courage. In this post I am going to talk about just one issue in the hope of shedding some light on its impact. Why? Because the easier the transition through death to the afterlife, the better off you will be once you get there.

I am afraid
Of all the emotional reactions which result when you understand that you are dying, fear is without a doubt the most frequent. I have known people,  although they were strong Christians, when confronted by their death experienced real fear about what was about to happen to them. Fear occurs for several reasons:

• Fear From Negative Past Experiences. - The repeated death and loss of loved ones in the past, even in early childhood, can build a deep fear of death and dying which can reach phobic proportions. In fact this condition is called thanatophobia and can range from being mild to very severe. If this reaction includes a obsessive/compulsive component, then it may be expressed through a morbid preoccupation and fascination with death and dying. Such fear in Christians can lead to a crisis of faith, a crisis which can only be resolved when fear of death is replaced with faith in eternal life.
• Fear of the Unknown. – Regardless of what you believe about death and the afterlife, you have never experienced it and so you do not know what will happen to you while you are at the end of your life.  In many ways each individual’s death experience is unique to that individual because no two people die in exactly the same way.  So, an atheist does not know what he will experience as he dies, and neither does a religious person.  This uncertainty can produce fear!  However, a Christian does have Biblical examples and guidance to help him overcome this fear wherein an atheist has to face possible extinction, a prospect which will increase fear as it approaches.
• Fear of Judgment. -  Perhaps a better title for this is fear of consequences.  If you believe in an afterlife, you must also recognize that what you do in this life will certainly have consequences later on.  What this means is that both good actions and evil actions live on along with us.  If you believe in a Holy God then certainly you understand that your unholy (sin) behavior will separate you from Him in the afterlife.  What that means is that you will suffer the consequences of being without God which is the same thing as being without love, joy, mercy, goodness, compassion, and the power which maintains life.  The fear of judgment is the same thing as the fear of suffering, because without God in your afterlife you will have no other option but to suffer and suffer intensely.  Interestingly enough, we all experience the grace and mercy of God while alive. Even someone who totally denies the existence of God, benefits from His blessings. This blessing comes because of God’s grace but is limited by the duration of God’s patience with the hard heartedness of man.  At death a change takes place and those who reject God during life, are separated from these mercies and blessings. What remains is called hell and rightly so.  It is a fact that the faith of a atheist which causes him to believe there is no God, afterlife, or consequences past death, does not make it so in reality.  Anyone who denies God and dies with a sin stained soul should fear death for it is truly stepping into a greater suffering than ever experienced during life.  As one of His greatest mercies, God has provided a way out of this dilemma and if you took step 1 found in part 1 of this post you need not worry about hell.
• Fear of loss – In one sense, dying is all about loss. As you progress towards the day of your death, your body becomes more and more dysfunctional. You lose your ability to live a normal, everyday life. It becomes difficult to carry on the simplest task such as feeding or taking care of yourself.  If that is not enough, you begin to lose friends, and the realization that you will be separated from your loved ones can hit you like a blow. This fear of loss soon produces anger, which is followed by depression until you reach resignation that soon you will be alone.

Step 2 – Facing Your Issues
You must resolve these kinds of issues before you die.  Hiding from them, ignoring them, or suppressing them is not the answer.  If you do not face these kinds of issues and resolve them, they can carry attachments to this world and significantly impact your transition to the next. You must take courage, and replace your fears with the hope offered by Jesus Christ,  Then you will realize that the issues of dying offer possibilities for spiritual growth.

Conclusion:
In the last two posts on this topic, I have been discussing problems about dying and death.  In the next post I will discuss the answers to these problems as offered by the Lord.  There is great hope and a dazzling future for us that even death can not dim. Come back to read what Jesus, our expert, says to us to give us this wonderful light in the face of the darkness of death.

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