A DEATH WISH

By Barri Cae Seif

Now acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace;
thereby good WILL come to you.

~ Job 22:21 ~

Jack Kevorkian is one of the most perplexing individuals on the face of this earth. By assisting the death of a suffering patient, he negates the Hippocratic oath that he swore to, many years ago. He also puts himself in the place of God. Only God has the power to bring forth life, as well as death.

There are many of us, myself included, who have at one time or another, wished to die. Perhaps it was a bad day, bad decisions, maybe a spouse left after years of marriage.

We get weary of the battle; we are tired. We feel forsaken. We cannot stand the morass of evil in the world, yet there seems as though there is nothing we can do about it. Life looks helpless. God seems distant. God seems silent. God seems uncaring. Unconcerned.

Despondency sets in. Depression clouds the vision. "I hate this!" the soul cries. "Get me out of here!" "I want to die!" O LORD, let me die!"

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets ever; his entire life's work was to speak out against idolatry. He lived simply, yet he was used by God mightily, even to confront royalty (Ahab and Jezebel).

We read in I Kings 19:3-4

3. And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheva, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

God had just used Elijah to raise a boy from the dead, and now Elijah is asking God to die. How quickly do life's events turn. Elijah laments that he is no better than his fathers were, how right he is, for apart from God, no one is good, not even Elijah.

"He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, 'Arise, eat.'”

~ I Kings 19:5 ~

Not once but twice did the angel of the LORD come, urge him to arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.

Life's circumstances can often look bleak, even to the point that it looks like the next place will be too great for us.
But God's word says: Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

"If only he/she understood me, this would not be happening!" But God's word says: God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7).

"Why did my baby die? I cannot take this pain." But God's word says: The secret things belong to the LORD (Deut. 29:29).

"All the cheating that goes on, this is not right." But God's word says: For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His (II Chronicles 16:9).

"How will I face that jury and be a whistle-blower? They all want to get me." But God's word says

Then Daniel spoke, "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths and they have not harmed me...He delivers and performs
signs and wonders on heaven and on earth" (Daniel 6: 23, 27).

Not again, I am fired again! When will this ever end? But God's word says:

Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust. You shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.

~ Joel 2:25-26 ~

And God's word says,

He who began a good work in you, will perfect it
until the day of Messiah Yeshua Jesus.

~ Phil. 1:6 ~

For we are His workmanship.

~ Eph. 1:10 ~

Our citizenship is in heaven.

~ Phil. 3:20 ~

In Him, you have been made complete.

~ Col 2:10 ~

the LORD will accomplish that which concerns me [and you].

~ Ps. 138:8 ~

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.

~ Heb. 11:1 ~

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble,
and He knows those who take refuge in Him.

~ Nahum 1:7 ~

Now acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace;
thereby good WILL come to you.

~ Job 22:21 ~

Barri Cae Seif holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from
Trinity Theological Seminary. Other devotionals by
Barri Cae may be found at www.barricae.com.


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