Dying INTO Life

Henri Nouwen writes: “Maybe the death at the end of your life won’t be so fearful if you can die well now. Yes, real death—the passage from time into eternity, from the transient beauty of the world to the lasting beauty of the next, from darkness into light has to be made now.” (Inner Voice of Love; page 107) Jesus told us that he who loses his life will save it.

How often has God walked us through mountains and valleys in our sojourn here to show us the places in our hearts where we have not died? Fear, worry, anxiety and stress all reveal the life of the flesh and the need to die in Jesus.

It seems to me that the areas where we want to hang onto are the places God puts his hand on and tenderly says, “This must die.”

I discover that I often fight against the love and wisdom of God crying, “No, Lord! Anything but that. I can’t let go of it.” So in that moment, I close my fist tightly over it. Afraid, anxious and nervous—these emotions come because I refuse to die to what God has placed his hand on. These feelings last as long as I hang onto the thing God wants me to let go of.

There comes a time when the longing for freedom from the struggle comes to the breaking point. At that moment God wraps his arms around us and gently beings to pry our fingers off of what we are clinging to. He whispers in our ears, “Trust me. Die to this. Let go. And you will find freedom for your soul.”

Dying is not an emptying. It is filling our hearts, souls, minds and spirits with Jesus. This freedom lasts forever.