How is your stay in the waiting room?

How is your stay in the waiting room?

“…and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”                                                                                                                                                                   Hebrews 2:15

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

I was awakened the other night by a scary dream. The dream was brief but it was so impactful.

In the dream I was on a stretcher. While on the stretcher

I was being escorted into a room. The room was full of light and it was as if I was gliding on thin air as they carried me into the room.

I could never see the faces of those who escorted me into the room.

The room appeared to be a waiting room and I was told that I would be dying.

When the thought came to me that I was going to die at an appointed time, my life flashed before me.

What was I going to do? What did I want to eat? Who did I want to see? In a moment’s notice all the small things begin to matter; however, it was too late.

That was the longest weight of my life.

That dream was one of the most profound incidents that I have ever sustained.

The simple things begin to matter and they were so much more weighty than the things I thought were of importance.

When I awoke from the dream several thoughts confronted me: fear, worry and my allotted time here on earth. These feelings troubled me for some time.

After reliving my dream with several friends to find relief, it did not happen. To calm my fears, I only found solace in the comfort of God’s Word.

Even though I was gliding through the valley of lighted death, I was fearing the evil of not knowing.  I could not recognize God with me; His rod and His staff were not there to comfort me, because I had not kept my mind on Him.

Full of worry because I wasn’t praying and believing, I was in the flesh.— Final Exhortations “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”                                               Philippians  4:4-6 NIV

To calm my fears , I read 2 Timothy 1:7;   “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind.”

Our time here is not forever and we are here for His reason— ‘To everything there is a season’. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”                                                   Ecclesiastic 3:1-2 

My thoughts in the dream were strictly carnal, absent of spirit and I acted from that point of view and could not put my mind at ease.

What did I miss, what was I supposed to have done in my life?

Feeling like Peter, the Disciple out on the lake, I now know all I have to do is to ask: Precious Lord take my hand; “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Mathew 14:30-31

Tell those you love that you love them. Revisit the small things that comfort you. Answer the children when they speak and cry out to you. Do something for somebody else even if you don’t know them and for God sakes please try your best to live by the word of God.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;     my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23

Dear God in the name of Jesus, I will not fear death because to be absent in the body is to be present with You.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

GOD’S WORD CALMS ALL FEARS.