Facing Fear Series…
A Guest post by Susan B. Mead at SusanBMead.com
The top two fears are death/dying and public speaking according to Statistic Brain Research Institute. I can address both of those, I thought, as I love speaking and having lost a son, the fear of death for myself is gone. I know where I’ll be and it’s lovely.
So I said sure – I’ll write a post about overcoming the fear of death and dying for your overcoming fear series, Valerie.How in the world does one overcome the fear of death and dying? For me, it was the loss of my 20-year-old college-aged son, Kyle. I no longer feared death or dying – for myself – after losing him.
But how do you overcome the fear of death or dying…are you asking yourself that question?
God is good even when circumstances are not. God’s so gracious; He gave me a beautiful dream the morning of Kyle’s service. In the dream, I saw Kyle dancing with Jesus, then the picture below two days later. May I share that simply erased all fear of death for Kyle and for myself as it comforted me so exquisitely.
God’s word promises He will comfort those who mourn. I can attest to the truth of His Holy Words about comfort. God actually says we are blessed. His presence is sufficient for all situations, including the loss of someone near and dear to you.
His presence is sufficient for all situations, including the loss of someone near and dear to you. Share on X
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
If you have loved and lost, take comfort. Look into the Word of God, seeking solace. It abounds!
The three things that impacted me most powerfully, enabling me to face death and dying fearlessly for my son and myself, follow. I pray these steps guide you into a fearless place as well.
1-The Word of God.
The Bible is full of comforting words. I used BibleGateway.com to perform word searches to find scripture to fill my heart and mind with Biblical truth. Words like comfort, mourn, death, dying, hope, life, light, etc. were searched so I could find solace in the Holy Word of God.
2-Renew my mind daily.
The Bible instructs us to renew our minds daily, so I did. How I felt could only be changed with new insight. The Scriptures not only gave me God’s Truth, they renewed my mind. As I renewed my mind, comfort came – in bucket loads!
3-Look to others who have loved, lost and are living joyfully again.
I realized as I looked within myself, my world remained very dark, scary and alone. I felt compelled to look up outside of myself. Doing that, I realized the longer I looked down at my feet, the longer I felt defeated and afraid – of everything.
Looking up allowed me to see a little bit of light shining into my dark situation. Following that light let me see others who had lost loved ones and were living full, joy-filled lives. And I wanted what they had, so I inquired what made a difference for them.
The common thread woven through all the stories was faith and belief in God, the God of all comfort.
When we believe in God and trust that He has our loved one in Paradise, we are comforted. Share on X
When we believe God will hold
And that, my dear friend, is when two steps forward and one back are not a setback in your life. That’s when we begin to dance with Jesus, one loving step at a time – forward two steps, back one, repeat, all the while lovingly held close to the heartbeat of God and His Son, Jesus.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
Psalm 30:11 (NKJV)
So do not mourn. Do not fear death. God's Word promises He will turn it into dancing and gladness. Share on X
That’s how this woman moved from frozen in fear of death to becoming a woman in AWE of God. Would you like to experience such an abiding awe for God that you too no longer fear death?
Today my sister let me know that Dad wants no more intervention, no more tests, no more medical steps. Dad said, “Let nature take its course.”
The course? Cancer. Metastasized. Body parts protruding into places they should not be, yet there they are, body fluids misbehaving, pain packing a one-two punch. Yes, death is staring us in the face and it’s ugly.
Yet Dad knows where he will go – the Heavenly streets paved in gold.
He knows His Lord God Almighty. So I praise God that He will hold Dad’s hand. I pray pain will be removed. I pray that I truly have overcome the fear of dying and that you do too.
I shall follow these three steps myself to see God’s plan for my dad, to renew my mind daily and to see others who have loved and lost, yet are living a joy-filled life, worshiping our Holy Lord God Almighty.
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 1:18
This is the Good News! Christ lived and died for us, overcoming death so we can live eternally with Him. What do we have to fear?
And I shall linger a little longer with my dad. Oh, yea, with my Heavenly Dad too. Now I know why God dropped the word linger into my spirit for 2016.
May the dance of life – eternal life – begin as I face the fear of death head-on, lingering in God’s comforting Word and walking hand-in-hand with Jesus. Or is that dancing, two steps forward, one back? Would you join me, please?
Susan B. Mead, author, survivor, and an individual who has dealt with multiple losses, is an empathetic, powerful, sought-after speaker with real answers. Susan is a Senior Ordained Chaplain, Certified by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, for individuals and groups suffering trauma.
Susan’s best-selling book Dance with Jesus: From Grief to Grace, is available on Amazon.
Susan tweets @SusanBMead, posts scripture graphics daily on Facebook and Instagram, blogs and hosts the DanceWithJesus blog linkup each Friday at SusanBMead.com. Get connected!
Susan, your post brought such a sense of peace and calm to me! I know your strong faith will be an inspiration to others who are afraid of death/dying or who are struggling
I would love for you to visit the previous posts in the facing fear series:
1. The Unexpected Cure for Fear: Fighting Fire with Fire
2. How to Face Your Fears One Step at a Time
3. When the Fear of Separation Feels Overwhelming
4. How Can You Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking?
Would you do me a favor? If you enjoy these posts would you like my FB page? I would love to be able to reach more people with the good news of Christ!
Susan, this is a perfect word for getting through any kind of grief. Our child is still alive, but chose to walk away from our family 10 years ago . . . refusing to have anything more to do with any of us. I grieved and healed through your three steps. And God’s healing grace has blessed me more than I would have ever imagined. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful truth here. Thank you Valerie for this wonderful series. Blessings to you both.
Tears came to my eyes as I read this, Deb. That sounds so painful! I’m going to keep you in my prayers. I’m so glad that Susan’s post was comforting to you. Those three tips are certainly ones we can use to help us heal through many hurts.
May I say thank you to each and every one of you? The day this post went active was the date for my dad to meet with the urologist. Oh what a bitter cup full when you hear words like cancer, spread, in the bones already. Yet God is greater than any word or earthly diagnosis!
Forgive me for being “off the grid” those few days. And join me in prayer for my dad that there will be no pain and tumors shall shrink and shrivel in the mighty name of Jesus – the name above every other name. Including cancer. Amen!
I’m so sorry Susan! I pray that God will hold you up and continue to comfort you. I pray that He would show you many “odd’ signs of His deep love for you. I loved that part in your book, “Is it odd or is it God?” I know exactly what you meant by that! Thank you for sharing your heart. Thank you for sharing hope to the world through the deepest kind of loss one can face. I will be praying for you, my dear sister in Christ.
Hello, Valerie. It took courage, love and His hand to write these encouraging words to the fearful heart. When you experience such loss, the pain sits deep down in the soul that no one can touch. No one, that is, except the Creator of soul. His comfort is perfect. He soothes the pain, allowing the hurting to do a work, a good work. Again, my sweet sister, thank you for sharing. Blessings.. Chris – writing from a yielded heart at https://www.christinemalkemes.com
I love your point from Romans 12:1-2 about renewing our minds daily.
What a beautiful heart Susan has. She is such an example of overcoming fear and I so love reading her work. I am glad you shared it here. Thank you for sharing this at Sitting Among Friends on Wednesdays. We are blessed for having read this.
Have a wonderful week.
She sure does have a beautiful heart Jaime! I was so touched by her book and amazed at her faith during such hard times.
Susan, you a such a beautiful light of hope and inspiration! Thank you so much for sharing such a powerful and encouraging word! And thank you so much for hosting, Valerie! I pray infinite blessings over both of you lovely ladies! 🙂
Thank you Tai!
Susan, Thank you for offering hope, and where to find it, for those who fear death.
What a sweet blessing that the Lord used your son’s death, to bring hope and encouragement to you, and now you are sharing it with all of us. Truly showcasing God’s Word, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And now you are imparting comfort as you have been comforted.
I leave here feeling blessed today.
Isn’t it amazing how God comforts us with the comfort others have received? Susan’s post truly blessed me as well!
Yes! The fear of public speaking…that’s exactly what my blog is about this week. Though you speak of bodily death, I will will be speaking about the death of the enemy’s hold on my life in the areas of body image, eating, and exercise. I suppose that would be death to self and coming alive in the identity of Christ, wouldn’t it? You are beautiful Susan. The way you put the harsh realities of this world into eternal perspective is so encouraging. Thank you!
Hi, Meg! I’m so glad you were encouraged by Susan’s post! I just read your blog post and I think it’s so awesome that you are sharing about the enemy’s hold on so many women today. I wish I could come hear you speak about it.
What an inspiring story. I am new to the whole blog thing and just launched mine last week. Through these link ups I have read so many great posts. God is good! Thank you!
Hi, Carrie! I’ll have to check out your blog. I’m so glad to meet you and I’m glad that you were encouraged by Susan’s post!
That would be great! Nice to meet you!
I’ve been reading in Hebrews lately and have been blessed by the very truth that you are sharing today: Jesus has delivered us from life long fear of death by his own death and resurrection! He has disarmed Satan! What a rich gift of grace!
Isn’t God’s love towards us amazing? He knew we needed deliverance from the fear of death and offers us the peace that comes through a relationship with Him and eternal life.
Susan,
What a beautiful testimony and ongoing story of God’s incredible grace. I love the picture you paint of, two steps forward, and one step back, as a dance. I find myself doing this forward, and backward movement a lot. Now I have a wonderful, new image for this process in my own healing journey. Thank you. Wishing you a blessed week.
I loved Susan’s imagery of dancing with Jesus two steps forward and one step back. I’m glad you read her post and that it ministered to you, Jed.
Our God is an awesome God. We sing it, we shout it, we say it. Well, after the horrible dream last night, about bugs in my brain, yeah, not pretty. The fear of death was waking me up. I read this with my morning tea and thank you “Dance with Jesus” will be ordered this afternoon to be read. Such loss you have had to face. And again, with your dad. I know it is a part of life and my comfort comes from knowing I’ll meet Jesus one day, but still so much here on earth is left to be done and loved. Truly enjoyed this nourishment to my soul on this Friday.
That sounds like an awful dream! I’m so glad her post ministered to you this morning. You will love her book, Michelle! I read it in one sitting! I loved seeing how God ministered to her in her time of need.
Susan – what beautiful encouragement on such a heart-breaking topic. So sorry to hear about you dad. I just love the hope that shines through you – even in the midst of such pain and sorrow. A light of hope for each of us as we step through these difficult steps in life.
Yes, doesn’t the hope and peace of Jesus shine through Susan? Her testimony is so powerful!