Death, Such a Pitiless King!

1 Thessalonians 4:14 – For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

I once observed a colony of ants busy in their routines. They walked up and down the bark of a tree. Ants going in and out of holes dug into the stem of the tree and each going to ‘God knows where’. A small network of paths was already evident suggesting that this tree has been their home for maybe years now. They not only walked on the bark of the tree but that they literally lived inside the tree. I imagined that probably in years to come the stem of this tree would be very weak to even support itself because of the changes made by the ants on the tree. The changes are good for the ants but on the other hand; tragic for the well-being of the tree (That gives a somewhat vague picture of our earth and humans in it). Trying to step into the shoes of the ants, I realize that it is another whole world on that tree.

I have heard of many horrendous stories of death. They shake me to the core of our being. Whenever, one tries to place themselves into the shoes of the victims and those around him only speechlessness reigns. One of the basic questions that almost I instinctively ask is; why did God let such happen? - A question that has led many to not only leave their faiths but also despise the creator. I heard of one story whereby a father dropped off his precious daughter just some meters from where he worked. While he gets into his office above the ground floor he notices a tumult on the road through the window and traffic was already jamming up. He didn’t bother to check into it for he maybe had to start working. The day was over he went back home only to find out that his daughter has not returned. They waited late into the night for her arrival but it was to no avail. They called her cell but there was no response. The next morning he and her wife went straight to the police station to report their child missing. After giving the description, the police suggested to them that there was a girl who was run over by a lorry but they could neither identify her nor her next of kin. They brought forth the handbag she carried for the sake of identification and to the shock of the parents all its components were their daughter’s. The tumult that the father saw was actually caused by his daughter been run over, moments just after he had dropped her off. This story sent a great chill and sense of remorse down my body. I couldn’t help but ask myself, why? Young person, you most probably are convinced that you will inevitably reach your old age but I constantly tell myself that few of the people who die started the day knowing that they would die. Life is not in our hands as much as we may declare ourselves autonomous. We have no surety that we will live the next second therefore; we ought not to live our lives in complacency and arrogance. The epistle of James warns us by saying, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (4:13-14) Then what should be done you may ask? James still deals with it in the next verse that ‘instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” This verse intimates that anything brought into fruition is due to Lord permitting its success (when I say anything , I mean everything even the things we think we achieved by our own strength, If the lord willed that nothing on this earth will move forward, nothing will; this shows our extreme pride and arrogance against the Lord when we fail to recognize the vital parts He plays in our lives). We should also determine to humbly present our plans to God. 

There are countless of other stories I have heard about death and you most probably have heard them too they would fill volumes. Tragic stories of even we meeting people today as healthy as they can be but the next time we hear of them is them being in a mortuary.Death is such a pitiless king! It is pitiless because it isn’t concerned about the effect it will have on the one it takes under its helm nor on those whom were significantly affected by their lives. It takes away parents leaving children orphans. It takes away revolutionary leaders leaving a corrupt country hopeless. It takes away bright futures consequently taking away the pieces that are needed to make the world a better place. It takes away friends leaving us less happy in this miserable world. Upon the individual, it ushers them to place of no return. To a place where none can repent any of their decisions and labor to make things right (The time is now dear reader to foster responsible, impactful and meaningful lives; the pitiless king rarely comes with a notice; what will you leave behind? The daughter mentioned above despite living a short life she had great impact on the lives of many. Children from her church came to mourn her death (She was a Sunday school teacher) and neighbors and friends were startled that she was gone. All was because the daughter added something significant in their lives. Dear reader, will people mourn you because something significant has been taken away from the world or will your burial just have closest family whom are probably there just because you were family?). I can write a lot it seems since much of what I have already written was unplanned for.

Let us go back to our “ant” analogy. As I observed the ants, I thought about the instances when you may see an ant in inappropriate place and step on it. I asked myself do the ants hold funerals for the individual who died since ants seem to be largely communal beings like humans. The ants on the other hand cannot retaliate on the one who killed their own. I could not help but see death operating the same in our world. I know some would say when we treat a person is our attempts to avert death but I tend to think that when we treat a person and continues to live it is because death had not even knocked on his door. If one who survives a near death experience the king had not settled on taking the individual since death seems to be so powerful that when he comes, he takes away. None can successfully oppose his will. That is why I label him ‘king’. This paragraph is filled with assumptions hence I might be wrong in my deductions but my point is this that death is a powerful phenomenon that has no concern of its effects on living beings and none can deter his will.

I ask myself why some die and why they die how they die. Honestly, I have no answer that can sooth our being (or at least a carnal being) other than that Death never prevails other than when allowed by God. Many stop there and end up hating God without even inquiring more deeply. The next question would be why did God allow such? Again I have no comforting answer for the carnal mind but that God has his purposes to fulfill. Everything that happen on this earth as it is, from the movement of dust particles to the falling of debris an erupting volcano, has particular purposes to fulfill which are normally God’s purposes and if any of them were to occur in any way differently than they already happened it would mean that God’s purposes would not have prevailed. The next question asked would be what is fulfilled by, for example a horrible death to such a young girl (mentioned above)? This question can only be answered by those of nearest proximity to the deceased. But what gives me strength even in this cognitive dissonance is the character of God. He is the King of kings even a king over death. He is righteous in that he has no unrighteous intention in fulfilling his purposes even if some of what he allows may dictate otherwise. His purposes are good and are for the greater good of both humanity and creation. I would have tried to give an analogy to try to explain this better but I can’t because the writing is already too long as I didn’t want it to be. The parents of the daughter mentioned above were Christians and despite them being of course the most startled and pained, they found strength in the words above. For the carnal mind this will not be comforting but the spiritual will know that he serves a Lord who has total control over all things and a right to do as he wills and unlike earthly kings who will probably abuse such power if given to them. The Lord is righteous he cannot do evil, nor intend of evil, or desire evil nor think evil but accomplishes good. The spiritual mind (the Christian) will also know that that they not only serve Him but also are His beloved children; He is a loving father to them who wills only good for them. Therefore, I encourage the Christian in all things to trust the loving father who rules all things he won’t allow anything to hurt us just for the mere pleasure of it but He promises to bring greater things out of every tragedy. Let his promises comfort you. The carnal man or the unbeliever will say that is precisely why religion is opium but I will suggest to them to bring a better solution. Atheists say that all this is chance that death is all there is after the end of this life there is no purpose intended in anything that everything is just going on either by itself or chance. Honestly, that is a hopeless system. It is better to have hope than to have no hope at all. Without hope for something life is worthless and meaningless but Thanks be to God that is not the case. The loving Father has promised that not only does he intend to bring Good behind every form of suffering but death is not the end of it all. Jesus Christ having resurrected is the evidence that there is life after death. That there will be a resurrection and that we will be reunited with those who we loved and died in Lord (though that joy will even be microscopic compared to having to see the beauty of God in its fullness) and even if our loved ones may not have died in the Lord our tears will be wiped away, the pain in that will be taken away in every measure. Jesus when He resurrected from the dead He took death captive and ensured victory over all those who die in Him hence it is not only a hope that we hold on and shows a probability of failure but it is an anticipation that has been initiated and accomplished by the Lord Jesus. When he comes death will no longer reign. He will be a dethroned king and even now his impacts have been greatly reduced since the Christian is united to the Lord through death and those believing who have been left behind are under the divine comfort of the Father who has adopted them from their depravity. 



 For now I would beg to end there. There is so much I can say and even as I write there is so much I ask myself. This is nowhere close to the exhaustion of this topic but I pray it may encourage every Christian and bring unbelievers from a state of hopelessness to anticipation of the much more glorious life that is to come.