Bible Studies

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REALITY CHECK
© JEANNE E. WEBSTER

PSALM 139:11-12
“If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yes, the darkness hides not from You but the night shines as the day, THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT ARE BOTH ALIKE TO YOU.” KJV

Throughout the Bible the Spirit speaks of the presence and power of God. His protection hovers over us day and night and we need not fear anything, even death. I’ve taken these words lightly most of my life and only now in my senior years do I pursue further enlightenment.

It is true that God is all powerful and mighty and a sure help when in trouble. But what help was He to all those believers who were slain over the centuries, fully expecting they would not have to endure pain and suffering and a horrible death. Prayer support lifted their spirits, hope swelled within their breasts and they believed beyond a doubt that help was on the way.

But it wasn’t...or was it? They were tortured, ripped apart, eaten alive, burned at the stake, brutally butchered, all innocent victims of the most ungodly perpetrations known to mankind. Why, Lord?

You promised to protect us, keep us from harm, slay our enemies, and stop the onslaughts from our enemies. Yet people died and continue to die from horrible or insidious means, along with natural processes. People draw their last breath begging for relief, for rescue, for continuation of life. For years I’ve wondered how God can say He’ll protect us yet allow terrible atrocities to happen.

This verse in Psalm 139 gives us a bit of a clue as to God’s slant on things. “THE DARKNESS SHALL COVER ME...THE NIGHT SHALL BE LIGHT ABOUT ME. THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT ARE BOTH ALIKE TO YOU.”

I believe David is speaking here of life and death...light and darkness. When the physical body dies, it appears to the living that that body is dead and gone. Well, it is gone as far as a living being is able to see it, hear it and interact with it. However, that dead body is now set free from the limitations of the physical life. It has gone from DARKNESS(with God) INTO THE LIGHT(with God). It remains alive!

In all reality, what do we REALLY experience when horrible tragedies beset us? We experience FEAR; the fear of pain, the fear of death, the fear of shame and loss. We need to remember God is ever present with us to enable us to endure what is in the moment, what today brings. This in effect negates the ever present FEAR that causes our knees to shake and our stomachs to vomit. God chases the fear away; our faith has made us free. We will suffer in this physical life; there's no way to avoid that. But we have no need to FEAR, for God is with us and will always be in control.

God’s thoughts of us are eternal. We are alive forever, whether in a physical form or spiritual form. Paul wrote in Rom. 6:8, “If we die with Christ, we will also live with Christ.” We are changed from the visible to the invisible, the mortal into the immortal. We live. We live.

Our tears, sympathies, broken dreams, heartaches, tortures, beatings, even death are not to be feared, as they are covered with the painless, tearless, hope-filled joyful new lives in the heavenlies. Death merely separates the physical life from the spiritual life; it does not make Life disappear and vanish. Darkness and light are both alike to God and therefore to us also. He dwells in both and dispels fear for the faithful. If you are presently burdened with troubles, and the situation is dark, do not fear. Fear is not to be feared! He is the great “I AM!”




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