DEATH OF THE GODLY

How long, Lord?  How long till I won't be trapped in my first response and have to redirect to my second response?

Yesterday when we heard our Jerusalem street preacher was hit by a car and had been killed, my shock said "Lord!  What are you thinking? Don't you need him?  Look what he was doing for you!"

Then, my redirect quietly came. "Of course, Lord, you know what you are doing.  Of course your sovereign Providence is in charge and there's no such thing as being 'taken before his time'.  Of course I can rest in your goodness."

The above Isaiah verse says mankind takes no note of the fact that the godly are saved from the evil that is to come.  The world cannot strain to see over what is in front of them...that death is a warning to all of us about the brevity of life.

The death of the godly also is viewed carelessly by the world.  Perhaps there were not many in the Jerusalem streets who saw Antony's death as a public loss.  They would have no idea of the import of kingdom business that he was about, and some might have even considered him an annoyance.  Sound familiar?

Matthew Henry says that men who belong to the Lord are saved from the sting of death, but not the stroke.  That's because the stroke of death comes to ALL.  I have a $50 jar of face cream, but even that will not help me cheat death.

But as a believer, I am saved from the hurtful power of death (sin) because Christ's death conquered sin and death...providing hope for the future.  I'm so very thankful for the Spirit's ministry that places assurance of that truth into hearts.

In the Lord's great compassion, Antony was spared further heartache.  Antony had seen more suffering than most as he took Toyota trucks of milk and diapers and cleaning supplies and Bibles to meet the basic needs of Middle Eastern refugees.  He had seen depravity that we could not fathom.  So who am I to tell the Lord about timing?  I can't even time my own life.

Therefore I take heart this morning.  In King James language, I will "layeth it on my heart" that the Good Shepherd kindly spared Antony from the things this world offers...as He ushered this faithful brother into glory.  May the Lord enlarge the hope that Antony spoke into many lives.  I take Antony's fearless life as an example of one who squeezed every drop of energy for Jesus.

"Therefore, be very careful how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil."  Ephesians 5:15,16