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| Even in death there is a lesson. Look for it. |
This is a post about death. Well...kinda..
Over the weekend I did a bit of social media fasting because I wanted to create an atmosphere where I could tune out the white noise of the day to day and really focus in on what God is saying in different areas of my life. I needed it more than you know. My prayer on Saturday was that during my fast that He be revealed.
And this is what I got:
God's will. Almost every time we speak of God's will for our lives we are referring to the future. We talk about what is going to come, what's supposed to happen, and what our purpose is in life. This is definitely true but I want to break down what I think can be considered the dual nature of this phrase.
God's will [for our future]. The common version of the meaning of God's will. Everyone knows that God has
a plan for our lives and that ultimately they are
what God wants to come to pass. Obedience, grace and growth towards Him is what helps us live out the calling He has on our lives.
God's will [for our past]. Among many other definitions for the word, Merriam-Webster defines the word "will" as:
"A legal declaration of a person's wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property or estate after death; a written instrument legally executed by which a person makes disposition of his or her estate to take effect after death."
Basically, what I got this weekend is that some stuff in our lives is just dead. It was conceived, it was born, it lived... but then it died, and God has no intention of bringing it back in your life. Moreover, he WON'T bring it back because well, that's just not his will. This could be anything, an old relationship (or non-official-but-we're-creeping-and-got-all-tangled-emotionally relationship), an old hobby or skill, a group of friends you were cool with, anything! Once God shuts the door on that thing and buries it, it has no hope for resurrection.
How to tell what's not really dead [yet]. Notice in the last sentence I said that God is the one who shuts the door. Meaning, sometimes there are things that look dead in the natural but not in the spiritual. In the same way that
Jesus died only to rise again later,
Lazarus was raised from the dead, and God had
Ezekiel raise up the dry bones, some things in your life could be on pause or on standby but not exactly dead. Maybe you have a family member that you pray for or a vision that you feel is God-given for your life, these things may look bleak right now but God's not done yet. I think that in order to sift these situations from the dead ones you have to examine how you look at them. These might clue you in on what's not really dead:
- You look back on the thing or person and still see the promise in it's future in your life.
- This thing is a part of your earnest prayer life.
- You notice signs of life/hope, whether brief flashes or blatant moments.
- This thing does not pull you out of alignment with Christian values/your walk if it were to be revived.
- The idea of God raising it from the dead increases your faith and draws you closer to Him.
These are signs that your situation might not be dead. Continue to believe in these things unless God says otherwise!
It's dead, move on. On the other hand there are things that are really, really, really dead. You can't escape these. In fact, sometimes things in our lives have to die so that new things can grow in it's place. The same way we would look foolish trying to revive a dead physical body is the same way we look foolish trying to revive something that's spiritual dead to us. These are signs that I've come across that help determine if something is really dead:
- This thing is not a part of your prayer life, in fact you've pretty much moved on from it.
- On the other hand, you haven't moved on from it but no new life is visible at all.
- Anytime you think back on the situation or person, it's more of a negative reflection than positive.
- You feel uncomfortable giving it over to God because the truth is, you really don't want it to live in you.
- If the thing/person were revived in your life it would draw you outside of your Christian values OR outside of your purpose/will.
That's not a full list and of course God has the power to revive anything, but for our sake it's probably best to turn these things over to God and allow Him to make the decision. Also, I want to note that this can and should refer to the sin in our lives. If we are in Christ, it should be our aim to kill fleshly desires and our sinful nature since there is no life in them.
Understanding God's will [of the dead]. When someone who has a will dies, the people in the will are told just what their inheritance is from the person. God works the same way in dead situations except his inheritance can be physical or spiritual. Perhaps that dead thing made you stronger, perhaps the void left by the dead thing leaves room for something to physically take it's place that God wants to be there. Spiritually, perhaps you've grown to learn a lesson. Whatever it is, do not miss it! Everything happens for a reason and if you don't catch the lesson, you might find yourself chasing down that lesson again the hard way until it sinks. The lessons in God's will for the dead things in our lives are always positive. Remember the lesson.
Bonus Coverage ( A lesson in how to bury the dead things/sin in our lives):
Tye Tribbett ft. Mali - Eulogy
