The 30th of May 2018 started out just like every other normal day would. I woke up by 5:30A.M, then got up by 6A.M to pray with my family. After that, I did house chores like sweeping round the house, doing the dishes and you know..stuff like that.
I brushed my teeth, had my bath and since I was work or school free that day I decided to log on to steemit and catch up on some of my favourite writers.
I spent a considerable amount of time doing that and just as I was about to take a break, I checked my class whatsapp group where I saw a message being addressed to everyone on the group. The message read thus;
Good day everyone. With a heart filled with great sadness and utmost demise of our brother, friend and colleague. We announce the death of Omoregbe Enoma Best who died on Tuesday morning 29th of May 2018.
We were able to reach his elder sister this evening to know the cause of his death, and she said Best slept and passed on.
May his soul rest in peace and God grant him eternal rest.
This was a bone chilling message indeed which sent cold shivers down my spine. It was definitely an agonizingly painful news which came unexpectedly. Not like anyone ever expects death though, being that it could be a surprising visitor at times.
But the real reason why I said it was unexpected was because Best was a young, quiet and healthy guy, who to the best of my knowledge lived a peaceful life devoid of troublemaking, rumour-mongering and the likes. And to think that he didn't die because of a terrible illness or fatal accident, but instead right in his sleep was just almost too much to bear.
I definitely have heard previous stories of others who have died in their sleep, but the fact that it happened to someone I know personally definitely had me thinking; "That could've been me you know". Afterall a wise man once said
A man is old enough to die the very first day he is born.
So this brings to mind the question; "Is this an an endless natural cycle where everyone is born at some point and then have to live with the mindset that they could give up the ghost at any given time?" and also "Were we simply born on this planet to live for a couple of decades and then fall into a never ending sleep?"
What does the future hold in store?
The truth is death has always been man's greatest enemy, which for now no man has ever been able to defeat successfully. But on a closer examination of the bible, we discover countless promises from our Heavenly Father in which He has promised to swallow up death forever, meaning death will be no more.
Take for example the words found in the book of Revelation 21:4 which says "And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away". Notice the very words; "death will be no more" which gives us a much needed assurance that in coming times
He will actually help us defeat our greatest enemy. It is obviously a prophecy which is yet to fulfill or come to pass, since we still live in a world filled with so much hate, pain, suffering and also DEATH.
The future is definitely looking bright if you ask me, and this is just one out of the many scriptures with which I console myself at times like this. Especially after the death of a loved one.
Another bible scripture which also gives us more confidence that God who is a Father who does not tell lies will definitely fulfill His promise is the account of 1 Corinthians15:26: There we are told that "Death the last enemy is to be brought to nothing." Great news right?
Yes indeed! We feel reassured and happy that a time is coming when humans wouldn't have to suffer and die anymore. But that also leaves the question;"What about our friends(like Best), family members and other loved ones who have died already? Are they a forgotten memory or is there any real future hope for the dead?"
Real Hope Four Our Dead Loved Ones
Indeed we can get real hope and true comfort from the scriptures whenever we face any trials or difficulties such as coping with the loss of a loved one to death, as stated in the book of 2corinthians chapter 1, from verse 3 to verse 4 which says in part; "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trials so that we may be able to comfort others in any sort of trial with the comfort that we receive from God".
It is even more comforting to know that God's son, Jesus Christ also felt serious pain when He lost His friend Lazarus to the sharp claws of death. So much pain that the Bible actually tells us that Jesus gave way to tears. But we know that He wasn't just crying because He felt Lazarus had no hope. This is because we know that Jesus went on to resurrect him later on, and also Jesus also went on to resurrect many other persons who fell asleep in death during His short time here on earth.
But of course, this is just a small scale representation of what Jesus Himself and His Father would do in the near future in which they would resurrect millions upon millions of dead humans back to life. Not bringing them back to suffer on this terrible earth though but back to a paradise earth. A topic which we'll discuss some other time.
The account of John5:28, 29 tells us that there is going to be a resurrection of both the "righteous" and the "unrighteous". The righteous being made mention of are obviously the ones who served God loyally and faithfully before they died. But by the word "unrighteous", does that mean God would also bring back to life those who instead of serving and worshiping Him choose to live wayward lives?
The answer to the above question is a resounding NO! The unrighteous persons being made mention of in that Bible text refer to the millions or billions of persons who did not serve God before they died simply because they didn't know him or hear about Him. These "unrighteous" ones would be resurrected or brought back to life and then taught everything about Jehovah God!
So you can see that indeed there is hope for those whom we love but who have fallen asleep in death. This gives us the much needed assurance and confidence to not give in to despair but to maintain that strong faith in God because He alone is able to do all things at any given time. So why not put all your hope, faith, trust and confidence in the only God who is able to defeat our greatest enemy DEATH?
Best, we all can't wait to see you again after you are resurrected because I know for a certainty that you are in God's memory, and also my God is not partial so as to forget all the good works you did during your short stay on this earth. Rest in peace till we meet again Bro!