I want to die

God knows the years of your life here on earth.  If that takes you unawares, sorry but it’s true.  Not just for you though.  It is true for every individual.  Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson expressed his opinion on the matter is this way:

“God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me.”

When discussing matters involving the timing of death it is most common that those engaged in the discourse are concerned with an untimely death taking them before they are ready.  The conundrum being how can a person living a shortened life experience its fullness.  Truly it is sad when a young life is ended before the perceived full potential of that life has been reached.  It is heart wrenching.  

But what about the other side of the death spectrum?  What about that life that has been lived, apparently to it fullest, and yet continues?  What about when the time to die has, by all conventional wisdom, come and gone and the individual is left, still alive and kicking?  How do we approach this scenario?  

It is important that we as human beings understand that God is in control of our days.  Whether youth is extinguished or old age is prolonged, God controls it all.  Our ability to understand this principle is directly connected to our ability to handle death regardless of its timing.  More importantly, understanding that God controls our set days gives us the ability to make the most of those days while they are had.

I have personally seen both sides of the death spectrum and while the harshness of a young life taken in death is felt with much greater trauma than the old life given up in death, I believe both instances are covered by the grace of God.  The lives lived in both instances are also covered with God’s grace and herein lies the greatest value.  Whether the life ordained has 5 years or 120 years here on earth, it is His grace that makes those years possible and it is our responsibility to make each one of those years full and fulfilling for God’s purposes.  Understanding this and living it out will help us know that should a life be ended “prematurely” yet it still accomplishes God’s desired purpose.  And, should a life live even into years of decrepitness, it is according to God’s will and purpose that such happen and there is yet God’s Glory to accomplish.