The myth of control: Contemplating death.

One of the most deceptive concepts held in the minds of men is the concept of control.  It is common for people to hold to the idea that they at least have some modicum of control over their lives.  This deception arises out of the myth of free will, and it leads us to believe that somehow we can control certain aspects of our lives.  I laugh at these notions and I am sure that God does too.  Consider some of the aspects of life over which we think we have control:

·         Where we live

·         Who we marry

·         How many children we will have

·         Retirement

The futility of these notions is bad enough but one of the most ridiculous of these is the idea that we have ANY control over our own death.  I begin by asking a question:

COULD YOU CONTROL YOUR OWN BIRTH?

This may seem a ridiculous question to which you would likely answer 'of course not'.  And you would be right; so what makes you think that you have control over the day you DIE.  We THINK that if we diet, exercise, get enough sleep and drink enough water that somehow this hodgepodge of activity has SOMETHING to do with how long we live.  Ah the vanity of our human thoughts!  All these things listed are touted as being essential to good health and necessary for long life.  I can tell you with ALL certainty that these things do not have ANYTHING to do with the length of our sojourn here on earth. 

I laugh when from time to time some centenarian that has achieved the elusive age of 100 talks about their steady diet of pork fat and cigars.  Why do these stories attract attention?  It is because we are supposed to ONLY be able to achieve this status by exercising five times a week, but here we have this walking chimney living longer that Florence Joyner. 

Some thank God that they are not in some war-torn region or a land besieged by famine; yet even in these regions people continue to live well into their eighties and nineties in the midst of slaughter, terror and poverty.

But if you STILL believe that YOU can, with ANYTHING you do, stave off death consider this:

Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; And HIS LIMITS YOU HAVE SET SO THAT HE CANNOT PASS. Job 14:5

For what does he care about the family he leaves behind when his ALLOTTED MONTHS come to an end? Job 21:21

Look at some key words in the above verses: DETERMINED, LIMITS, ALLOTTED. These verses and in particular these words in their context show that it is GOD who DETERMINES how long we live and he will not give his glory over to celery.  More proof:

…your eyes saw my unformed body. All the DAYS ORDAINED for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalms 139:16

This verse is AMAZING as it tells us that ALL are days are ORDAINED before you were even born!  This means that God set a day for your birth AND a day for your death.  HE ORDAINED THEM!! And again,

                                                                                                                                                    …and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having DETERMINED THEIR APPOINTED TIMES and the boundaries of their habitation. Acts 17:26

Here the scriptures show us that God has determined our appointed times.  The key verse in this study is the one we began with and that is Job 14:5 where God tells us that the days are set and He says that we CANNOT pass them.  Well now isn't that a kick in the head!  Let this not be a discouragement to healthy living but let it serve to kill our illusion of control.

These verses are important to understand because death is indeed harsh and something that we can never get used to but even if it is at the hand of a gunman or a blockage in the heart know that:

 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. Deuteronomy 32:39

God is in control of EVERYTHING!!!!!