That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
That’s a man’s mantra, one designed to allowing boasting. When we take a risk, and the danger is great, living through it is even greater.
It’s also something we can say when life beats us down. If we can survive the bad stuff, we will become stronger in the process.
Yet, what if the bad stuff is good for us?
1 Corinthians 15:55 tells us:
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Yes, death is about as bad as it gets. Even so, in that verse, we read that there is no sting in death. There is no bad thing there.
How can death make us stronger?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us:
“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Now we’re seeing the picture. It’s our bodies that die. What happens to our spirit is entirely different. It doesn’t expire at all. Rather, the death of the body allows the spirit to return to the Father in heaven.
Psalm 102:25-27 tells us:
“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.”
We can trust in our God to stand true to his Word and to his promises. Truly, death is only a passage to what is to come.
Psalm 34:20 tells us:
“He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.”
We become stronger in the Lord. Death is our opportunity to leave our frailties behind. Death may kill us, but we become more robust in what we are to be.
Psalm 23:1-5 gives us our true hope:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
A bee sting is deadly to some people. However, that same sting is willingly used to administer a healing touch to the joints of people with severe arthritis. One researcher says, “The stings don’t really hurt when you know they’re coming, and they spread a warm feeling through the afflicted joint.”
As we said: That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. And if we are followers of Christ? That which kills us makes us stronger, still.
There is no sting to death when we place our hope in Christ.
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Code: FGO.C.23.15.vp.esv