Christians Dying Of Dehydration?

[Ryan&Amber2013]

So I just read an account of a missionary who traveled by sea on a ship. He gave his life for the advancement of the gospel. He ended up dying at sea for lack of food and water. In his last journal writing before dying, he wrote about how good God is, even though his desire for water was almost unbearable. It seems he truly desired to know and live for God.

This made me think of the promise Jesus made about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and resting assured that all our earthly needs would be taken care of.

So there are three possibilities with what happened to the missionary: 1. He wasn't seeking the Kingdom first and was allowed to dehydrate. 2. The text doesn't mean what it seems to be saying. 3. The promise was not fulfilled.

What do you think the answer is in scenarios like these?

 

[OPC'n]

I think there's a fourth answer. For his entire life God had met all his needs.

At the end of one's life, he cannot discard all that God has done for him because God has decided to finally withhold life sustaining nourishment or healing in order to take him Home.

God always keeps his promises. If we find ourselves unsatisfied with what we have, we can't blame God we have to search our hearts to find out where they lay.

Another one of his promises is that we will suffer in this life. We suffer in order to learn to lay our life completely in his hands. It's hard but deeply peaceful.

 

[Ed Walsh]

This made me think of the promise Jesus made about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and resting assured that all our earthly needs would be taken care of.

So there are three possibilities with what happened to the missionary: 1. He wasn't seeking the Kingdom first and was allowed to dehydrate. 2. The text doesn't mean what it seems to be saying. 3. The promise was not fulfilled.

Is this a case where the exception proves the rule? In this life of woe there are always exceptions to all promises. In general and in the long run, all of God's promises are true. But not always for each individual. The preacher noticed these exceptions and it really bothered him.

Ecclesiastes 9:12
For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Ecclesiastes 8:14
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 9:11
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Jesus taught the same thing.

Luke 13:4
Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Look also a Hebrews 11:4-40 Look particularly at transition between the "good news" stories and the the "bad news" in verse 35b. of the people of faith.

 

[JTB.SDG]

Or take Psalm 121:7, which says the Lord will protect you from all evil. Is it not evil to die of thirst? In and of itself, yes. But for believers, these things never come to us in and of themselves, but everything must and does submit to the larger plan and purposes of God, which for believers, is ALWAYS in every way only for our very best good. So what do we do with verses like Psalm 121:7? We don't deny reality; we reinterpret it. As to the verse you quoted, it sounds very much like the Lord did provide the extraordinary grace he needed to cross the Jordan well into the new world.

 

[Physeter]

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matthew 10:28

This verse implies that evil people can and will kill the bodies of believers, but they cannot kill the soul of the elect. The Bible mentions in places that prophets died at the hands of wicked men.

When the man died of thirst, he did finally get to enter God's rest where he would never suffer again. Life is filled with trials and there is none of us that will elude our appointment with physical death. But we will elude spiritual death that that is what matters most.

 

[Pergamum]

We will all die somehow at some point. At that point of death, God will not suddenly become unfaithful to us. It is just our time appointed. Somewhere out there on some Japanese factory floor may be a car being produced on the assembly line that will crush you to pieces some day. And God planned that from all eternity past.

That missionary got advanced to glory, that is all.

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

We will all die somehow at some point. At that point of death, God will not suddenly become unfaithful to us. It is just our time appointed. Somewhere out there on some Japanese factory floor may be a car being produced on the assembly line that will crush you to pieces some day. And God planned that from all eternity past.

That missionary got advanced to glory, that is all.

I think this makes sense. (I deleted the rest of the reply because I didn't want to come across as doubtful of God. I was just hoping to try to make the most sense I could of the verse.)

 

[Alan D. Strange]

@Ryan&Amber2013

Trevor is right, of course.

Our Lord would have us seek Him first and not first attend to our earthly needs or worry about their being provided. We are to seek Him above all, in preference to His good and gracious gifts: this is a call to repent of our idolatry, of privileging the creation over the Creator.

He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He wants us to seek Him chiefly and not the gifts He provides--this is the meaning of this part of the SOM.

That missionary died in seeking Him first. May we so live and thus die the death of the righteous, seeking Him above all, whatever the consequences. Much of the Scripture has this as its theme--whether the Book of Job, the SOM, Paul, James, etc.

This is a theme that seems to run through recent posts of yours, brother, and I pray that you will be strengthened to resist the devil, the flesh, and the world in re: the bad light that our foe always seeks to cast on our great and good God, who never fails in His wisdom and always does that which is best for us.

He loves us and cares for us even when circumstances are difficult. He certainly does so in calling us to Himself, as He did in the case you cite. Remember, in the life of that missionary, He provided for him all the way up to the point at which He took him to Himself. What more can we ask of Him? He loves better than we could ever imagine to love.

We all want to make sure that we are always confessing that.

Peace,
Alan

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

@Ryan&Amber2013

Trevor is right, of course.

Our Lord would have us seek Him first and not first attend to our earthly needs or worry about their being provided. We are to seek Him above all, in preference to His good and gracious gifts: this is a call to repent of our idolatry, of privileging the creation over the Creator.

He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He wants us to seek Him chiefly and not the gifts He provides--this is the meaning of this part of the SOM.

That missionary died in seeking Him first. May we so live and thus die the death of the righteous, seeking Him above all, whatever the consequences. Much of the Scripture has this as its theme--whether the Book of Job, the SOM, Paul, James, etc.

This is a theme that seems to run through recent posts of yours, brother, and I pray that you will be strengthened to resist the devil, the flesh, and the world in re: the bad light that our foe always seeks to cast on our great and good God, who never fails in His wisdom and always does that which is best for us.

He loves us and cares for us even when circumstances are difficult. He certainly does so in calling us to Himself, as He did in the case you cite. Remember, in the life of that missionary, He provided for him all the way up to the point at which He took him to Himself. What more can we ask of Him? He loves better than we could ever imagine to love.

We all want to make sure that we are always confessing that.

Peace,
Alan

Thank you so much! You always have godly words of wisdom. I do apologize for coming across as a Thomas, as I really just want to be so sure and grounded in what I believe. I do feel as if the enemy will use things I can't rationalize as a way to try to cause me to be stunted in the faith.

In reality, God has been so good to me, and has worked so beautifully in my life. I can surely testify of how the Lord has brought me from death to life. What a good Savior He is!

 

[jwithnell]

I wonder how those who gave their lives in the early church would have answered this? Likely it would have involved a recognition that God sovereignly advances his kingdom as He wills. The Bible gives a pattern of blessing for obedience and I've lived long enough to see this is generally true. But many a pastor, parent, or statesman have been humbled for a belief in a vending machine God who "must" reward obedient faith and service. We live in a fallen world and face the dangers and thorns of any man. Our efforts are at best lukewarm and imperfect. God places his soldiers where He wills and all glory is due to his name alone.

 

[OPC'n]

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

So far this looks incredible. Hopefully I can finish it later. Thank you!

 

[Polanus1561]

So far this looks incredible. Hopefully I can finish it later. Thank you!

greatest sermon on YouTube.