Does God Have Any Reason to Keep You Alive?
Tue, Dec 1, 2009
This was the question I asked myself last night on the way home from Kansas City. There I was on this plane with 200 other people. Turbulence was crazy and anytime I am on a flight with bad turbulence I start to think the what if…
And then it hit me. As I prayed for God’s protection, I thought to myself…Is there any reason that God should hear my prayer and have angels guide this plane to a safe landing? Why do I deserve to be saved from death when others die in plane crashes all of the time?
Solomon says: ECCLESIASTES 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
I honestly could not come up with any great reason why God should save me in any event of disaster. Am I doing some great work on the earth that cannot be done by another? Now, I must say that God has people doing wonderful things for Him around the earth. We do not need to think that if someone dies that they were not doing a great work…look at the martyrs etc.
I realized that the great fear of death is no more than a fear of not being ready for our name to come up in Judgment. I confess my sins to my God daily and I believe in assurance of Salvation. I think many times though, we seek to ‘barter’ with God and unfortunately, this is not a correct perception of how God works.
Did we forget that He left eternity..heaven…and glory to come to this earth to redeem us awful sinners. That is a kind of love that is not easily understood.
I did realize this: Time is short. Lives end every moment. Probation closes on someone every second or more around the world. God is looking to finish this saga of good and evil and He is seeking to save any that come to Him for salvation.
We don’t need to be afraid of anything in the world except not abiding in the arms of Christ day by day. He is our only hope. It may sound cheesy, it may sound too whimsical but it is the truth. We have one hope of peace…one of hope of true joy…one hope of contentment and satisfaction in this world…and that is through Christ.
God has every reason to keep you alive as long as you glorify Him in your life. As long as you and I seek to do the will of God, He will use us as a blessing to others. When we get confused and seek to use those blessings He gives us for our own selfish benefit, then we have reason to be concerned. He is faithful and this verse brings me hope:
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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This exact question went through my mind during my flight from Miami to Atlanta over Thanksgiving. What spiritual influence do I have to offer souls around me? Does God really have a reason to keep me alive? or, am I just living for myself? I don’t want to live for myself, my success, my comfort. As Adventist we are priviledged because God has given us the TRUTH…COMPLETELY! Am I reading, applying it, and preparing myself to be translated and, helping others to see and live this TRUTH?. God, WAKE US UP!
WoW! A lot of us are going through with the same thoughts.
I had this shooting pain when the plane I was traveling was just beginning to land. It was a pain which started from around my ears just above the neck, and very quickly spread to my entire head. I thought my head is going to burst open, and I could not even shout for help. That’s when I thought I am going to die for sure. I started to pray “God please forgive all my sins and take care of my family and help that we all should meet in heaven”.
After the plane landed my pain subsided, and then I realised that the pain must have been because of the sudden change in atmospheric pressure. This is when I thought to my self “Am I ready if I have to die at this moment to face our Mighty Lord on the day of judgment”? “Will God accept me as I am now, in to His kingdom”?
We need to live our life as if the next moment is not going to be there, we need to be prepared NOW!!!
Interesting that this question is coning up, in one way or another, to so many people. Recently I was placed in circumstances where for the first time in my 68 years of independence I had to justify my existance. It took a day or so to come to that conclusion, but when I did, I realized that God was asking me to “justify my existance” to Him! Think about that for a while. How do you justify your existance to the one who created you before the foundations of the earth were laid? He’s the one with the Plan. What was His purpose? Have I finished or satisfied that pupose? Has the Council of Heaven met and decided it is time for me to be removed? 1 Kings 22:19-22 records just such a meeting regarding an assasination plan to remove Ahab. This appears to be the same Heavenly Council that met and the Lord brought up Job to Satan who was representing Earth in place of Adam, one of the sons of God (Luke 3:38). This is recorded in Job 1:6-12. In Ahab’s case, there was no reason to keep him alive. In job’s case, there was. The purpose is in the Plan, and the Master Planner carries out His purpose. The only way I can justify my existance is to manage my life to stay in sync with His purpose. As long as I am actively carrying out His purpose, He has a reason to keep me on the job. And that’s a good beginning….