“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Philippians 1:20-21 NIV

Lately, I have been asked to continually pray for healing for loved ones. I know they ask so that they can have more time with their loved one and not have to experience life without them. My faith and love for God’s will in the matter demands I pray specifically for just that…God’s will. I never want to hurt my friends by not praying for their specific requests for healing. However, we must not ignore the very strong possibility that God is calling His child home. We must recognize our responsibility to include prayer for peace and comfort in preparation for departing this world and facing our creator God.

I wrote a story a few years ago called, “The Elephant in the Room” that speaks on the subject of finding peace and comfort in being prepared for death. I guess my heart continues to lead in that direction of offering prayers of peace and comfort about dying.

Recently, our church (along with thousands of others) prayed for healing for a young lady, with three children under the age of 19, but God said, “I have a different plan!” My son in law, Sam, and I sat discussing God’s decision after her home going was totally baffling. It seemed that God ignored so many people’s prayers for healing. I said, “I’d really like to have a conversation with God about His reasons for not healing our sister in the Lord”. Sam shared how he had prayed for healing for his dad years ago and God didn’t heal him either. Along with our grief for these loved ones we were confused, and questioned our faith and the God we so dearly love.

Then a word in due time came the very next Sunday when our Pastor, Sammy Foster, spoke on this very subject. You would think we had asked him to address our questions, but it was very obvious; we were not the only ones feeling this way.

If you have lost a precious loved one or are currently walking that imminent path questioning God about your unanswered prayers, Pastor Sammy so graciously addresses this topic in this message when “When God Feels Absent”… https://youtu.be/c-GsONl0eM8

As I stated earlier, I always include God’s will in my healing prayers. Pastor Sammy reminds us in such a powerful way that:

“You don’t have to understand the plan to trust God’s purpose.”

“Do not reduce the size of God in your minds eye!” and

“We gotta go with Jesus!”

Photo by Kathy Falke

1 thought on “To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

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