The Frailty of Life

I got a call today with second-hand news that my dad got into a car accident. The grave tone on the other end from a dear friend told me that the rumors he had heard wasn't just pertaining to a fender-bender.

I wanted to throw-up. And then I went numb.

I tried to call my dad's phone as fast as I could. The pleasantries of saying 'I'll call you back when I know more,' and the time it took for our cell phones to connect was an excruciatingly long eternity.

Life is terrifyingly fragile I thought.

My dad picked up the phone. He was okay. We quickly moved to call other family members to check on their safety in case this news just had the first name mixed up. I held my breath before each one picked up. These verses came to mind as painful reminders of our reality in life:

James 4:13-14
1 Peter 1:24-25
James 1:9-11

Everyone is okay as far as we can tell now at the moment. It drives home the point though that I know in one sense but I often forget or do not feel as real.

Our lives are very fragile... and we will find a bitter end if we put too much stock into our life, if we put all of our hopes into it.

Life will betray us. In a moment, a call can confirm it's frailty.

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This is our lot.

In John 11, their is a story of Jesus bellowing with rage against death at the funeral of Lazarus. (Most translations soften the anger of Jesus in John 11. Look at the Greek wording if you want to verify all of this.) He is not simply crying for his friend. He knows he is able and will raise him from the dead in minutes. At the moment he sees the devastation of death. He sees everyone at the funeral torn apart. We cry out, 'It should not be this way!!' at the funeral of a friend or a family member.

The utter devastation of death makes Jesus bellow with rage. He knows that it was indeed not supposed to be this way. As God in man he might have seen the funerals we have all attended at that moment, and the ones that we still will yet. At the very least in the face of death there he bellowed with rage and demanded to see the body. With his voice the Word of God penetrated through death and brought Lazarus back to life. For the sake of those around him he revealed his credibility, his prowess over life itself which was destined to be consummated on the cross.

And this is what drove him to finish his course. This is what kept his eyes set on what the cross would bring. In his death he was able to swallow up death's power on those that desperately cling to His grace. In love he took death, the wage we deserve, head on, so that we might have life in full.

Thank God for a savior... one who in perfect love lived and died to save us from the destruction of death.