Dying is like an Anchor

Dying is like pulling in an anchor, and we, the dying, are the anchor.  When the process of dying reaches its ending stages, we face all sorts of insecurities because we have lost the artificial purposes we have given ourselves in life.  Our body has failed us.  We are no longer keeping the family steady.  We are incapable of being the support we always have been and find ourselves being supported.  We are being pulled in.   

The pain is still there, but for some, the process of dying can be a blessing.  John Wesley, the man who started what is now the Methodist, Wesleyan, and Nazarene churches, proclaimed in his dying breath, "The best of all is, God is with us."  God is with us, through the storms and through the beautiful sunsets.  He is always here, with us.

As Paul wrote,

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

        “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
    “O death, where is your victory?
         O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [1 Corinthians 15:54-58 (ESV)].

On a missionary journey from England to Georgia in the United States, John Wesley's boat was rocked by a storm and the mast broke.  Wesley's fellow sojourners from England were in a worrisome and fretful state, but the Moravians on the ship rested peacefully in the hands of the almighty and worshiped God through singing hymns.  This experience greatly impressed Wesley as he wanted what the Moravians had, a peace that could last through the storm.   

It does not do any good to ignore death, to pretend that it will not happen to us.  Our death will come.  Ignoring that will not make our days longer or help us to live better, but our dying should not be a process that paralyzes us in fear.  We need to learn to look death in the face, know that the victory is the Lord's, and continue on living the life He wants us to live.  As Paul wrote, when we do the work of the Lord, our labor is not in vain.  

There is nothing wrong with fighting death and continuing to live.  I have seen many people overcome illnesses and cancers to continue living life again.  But there will reach a point in each of our lives where the living is not much and the fight has dwindled; it will be our time.  We need to face death like the Moravians faced the storm, with a peace that can last even the greatest of trials.  We are being pulled in.