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“Oh death, where is your sting?” Death has become my acquaintance in past years causing me to feel afraid and alone, yet at no time have I walked alone. My Heavenly Father has walked this path with me and has caused me to think a lot about 1 Corinthians 15:55 in reference to the pain of death. This passage talks about the sting of death and how God has won the victory over death for us. The pain in remembrance of past “stings” was an experience I had in attending a recent funeral causing me to ask God again, “What does the sting of death mean and what does this verse mean?!!!”

Both of my parents died when I was thirty-two years old in the 1995 Murrah Bombing in Oklahoma City, the first truly grievous experience of my life. In 1999, my husband and I endured the horrendous news that our first baby would go full term but not live outside the womb. She lived and died September 23, 1999. I will treasure the memory of her and the special way God brought His comfort in those days. Lastly, my husband had an undiagnosed illness for eight years and died in 2011, leaving me a widow with three young boys.

As you can imagine, I hate funerals! The sole reason I attend a funeral is to support and be there for a friend. Generally, I sit numbly through it, not showing or even feeling much emotion. I suppose my safety mechanism is to show up in body but not in mind.

So, here I am at another funeral. I’ve turned off the emotions and am unable to cry like the people around me. I left the church, not a tear shed and wondered how I could turn off my feelings like I do. I walked to my car and waited for the procession line to start to the cemetery. I knew I needed to push through my emotions and at least do this thing for my friend.

Sitting in my car on that cold, winter day I turned on my lights out of respect and edged into the line of cars as they wrapped around the little country church. We progressed single file along the country highway as it seemed to split miles of beautiful pasture in half. As we neared the cemetery I noticed that traffic in the opposing lane had stopped. Every vehicle, with lights on, had stopped out of reverence for this unknown person. Even they understood the value of life and had enough respect to honor it!

It was in that procession line that a flood of hurt and memories came back. The emotion I thought I didn’t have was triggered. I cried out to God in my pain and told him how I hated funerals and the suffering that came with it. It was in that moment that he brought back 1 Corinthians 15:15 to my mind. “Oh death where is your sting? “What did this mean?” I thought. I understood that death was the final act of pain to endure since I had done it so many times, but why was this verse coming to mind? I asked God to help me understand.

As I drove home I continued to ponder the day’s events and that verse. After reaching home, I decided the only way to understand was to read it for myself. 1 Cor. 15:55. It read, “ O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I then read the verse before it. vs. 54 said, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY!

What hope for the Christian!! Death to this earth is only a transition to a NEW LIFE!! Those who have believed on Jesus have that hope and go from this painful earth to a new life ALIVE with God. The sorrow is in missing them and for those who have rejected Christ. But for the Christian there is a HOPE.

Wow! God opened my eyes to an old but new truth for me. I can let go of sorrow because those that loved him too have gone on from this life to be with God and they are alive with Him. Oh death where is your sting? It is swallow up in victory! This victory is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for all who believe in Him. We all will experience death, but there is a real hope for those who have trusted Him.

I can have peace and hope. I can let go of sorrow for those I miss and loved but with new resolve, have a renewed urgency for my friends that do not know Him.

Thus, I can live in HOPE that those I’ve loved and those who are believers in Jesus are in victory as they are alive with Christ. My prayer now is that I can be a “light” to a broken world and share this hope of Christ with them so that they can have this HOPE too!!