Life and Death are matters of perspective

In Acts 12, we read about the death of James and the arrest of Peter. The former Apostle was killed. The latter ends up being spared. We’re only told that the brethren prayed for Peter while he was in prison, but there’s no reason to think they didn’t also pray for James.

And yet, James died and Peter was spared.

In that sense, God answered one prayer and not the other. To be clear, God answered both, but only one was answered with a “yes.” That’s my point. God heard both prayers but only said yes to one of them. What do we learn from that? If you’ve ever been in a situation where someone you loved was suffering, and you prayed for their healing, only for them to die… you know what the brethren in Acts 12 felt like when James was killed. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you someone you loved was suffering, and you prayed for their healing, and they lived… you know what the brethren in Acts 12 felt like when Peter was spared.

God’s will is not always ours. More than that, God’s perspective on life and death is often very different from our own.

We see life as finite and death as permanent. That’s backwards. Listen to the Master…

 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

(John 10:10)

Listen to the Apostle…

We see life as temporary and death as permanent.

God sees death as temporary and life (with Him) as permanent.

If we can learn to make God’s perspective the same as our own… we will continue to pray for our loved ones who are near death, and then, whether they live or die, we will rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to Him, because we know that through Him, life is permanent.

~Matthew

PS: It isn’t lost on me that I’m publishing this five years (and a few days) after we lost our beloved Amy Fairchild. May the Lord comfort those who mourn her absence, temporary though it is.