From daily headlines to nightly broadcasts, images of disasters bombard us constantly.
This world recognizes physical death. There is no way to avoid it. Most people accept that.
How about spiritual death?
Thank God there is a way to avoid spiritual death. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every event under heaven.
In our earthly existence, God has provided a plan to deal with the mortal death we face all around us. In his Word, he shows us the stages that can lead us from spiritual death into spiritual life.
In this first article on Salvation by Degree, we will look at how the world deals with loss. In subsequent articles, we will visit God’s plan to lead us back into spiritual life.
In our fallen world, grief is a companion that walks with each of us during our lifetime. We may grieve for a loved one taken too early, or a vision that has seemed to collapse around us. As we age, lost youth may come upon us with a grief equal to that of any other. Even things we turn loose of as we move to new stages in our lives may impact us deeply, whether it is that first home where we spent our wedding night, or Grandmother’s trunk that will no longer fit in our downsized abode.
When grief takes hold of us, it consumes us for a time, and it is impossible to see to the other side.
It is generally accepted that there are six stages we experience before we can let grief go.
Stage One – Denial:
We let life go on as usual, hoping things may return to normal. Somehow our house will be rebuilt, or our boss will call us up, telling us we have our job back. The cancer will be cured, or our spouse will return.
Stage Two – Anger:
We strike out, for what has happened is unfair. We don’t deserve the circumstances in which we have found ourselves, and we don’t care who gets hurt.
Stage Three – Bargaining:
Sometimes we bargain with God, hoping he will heal our illness if we place more money in the offering plate. But at other times we lower our standards and begin to bargain with the world. We can have love again, if we just accept someone with fewer scruples.
Stage Four – Depression:
Here is where we give up. We may appear listless and without hope, but that is the start of acceptance.
Stage Five – Reengaging:
We start looking at what has to be done to deal with the loss, and we begin to see solutions. We also begin to reconnect with people.
Stage Six – Acceptance:
The loss becomes a permanent part of who we are, and our life moves on. At any time, the grief may wash over us again, but we rebound more quickly with each episode. In this stage, we once again embrace life.
One critical part of the grieving process is recognizing that we can get to the other side. When we successfully survive grief over a small loss, we begin to understand that the grief we feel at the beginning of a larger loss will eventually become manageable.
God has specifically built these emotional stages into each of us, and they lead us from the disaster into healing.
He has also built spiritual stages into us in order to allow us to avoid spiritual death. These are 1. Testing him; 2. Drawing unto him; 3. Feeling conviction for our sins; 4. Receiving a revelation of God’s love; 5. Renewal of our spirit.
In part two, we will turn to God’s Word and look at the first of the five stages we must pass through in order to receive God’s salvation.
God has a plan for us to move from death to life. He wants us to live an abundant life in him.
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