“… Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.” (2 Samuel 24:14)
Fear drives men to put their lives in the hand of God. But if we’re not living for God, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31) We fear the madman who randomly kills those in his path. But Jesus advised us to have a greater fear: “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.” (Matt. 10:28)
Power hungry men love to play God. They gloat in their power to pass final sentence over the lives of others. Pilate wanted Jesus to fear him. “… Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?” (John 19:10) But Jesus was unafraid of Pilate because He knew His life was in God’s hands. No one but God had the final say over whether He lived or died. And He knew beyond death’s sting was life and immortality.
The real issue is not whether we’re ready to leave this earth behind, but are we ready to stand before the God who gave us life. To live without God is to die without God. Men fear how they will die; but don’t fear the godless life they are living. Our greatest fear should not be losing our life at the hand of another but living with our life in our own hand. The time to place your life in God’s hand is not when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun; it is now.
Surrender involves giving up and giving ourselves over to another. Those who surrender place themselves in the hands of someone else. Until we surrender our lives to the control of the God who made us, we are our own greatest enemy. We have more to fear from ourselves than anyone else. Each day we live outside of God’s hands we dance on the edge of a cliff.
No one knows what a day may hold. But those who are in the hand of the Lord can live without fear of the hand of man.