Things die for a reason.
In honor of all things creepy this month, I decided to do a post about one of my favorite TV shows, “The Walking Dead.” I know, I know I’m a spiritual leader and a pastor, why would I watch such a show or participate in Halloween or any of that kind of stuff? Well, first off I’m not religious and secondly you don’t know me or my relationship with God and thirdly the show is very well written. So with that in mind let’s jump in!
As season 6 of the Walking Dead gets going I’m reminded of the great writing that goes into the show. It’s not that I’m a fan of zombies necessarily, I’m a fan of creativity. With almost anything, I can glean spiritual principles from The Walking Dead. In case you’re new, the whole basis is zombies. People who die and come back to life only to wreak havoc on the lives of the living by consuming them. Definitely gross but extremely spiritual. Hopefully you’ll see the parallel.
I’ve experienced a lot of death in my life. The death of a marriage, the death of a dream, the death of many relationships, and the death of beliefs I once held so dear concerning these things. As I read the scriptures for myself and truly walk in a relationship with God for me alone, I start to realize that things die for a reason.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, -Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NIV
God has ordained death to us has human beings and has ordained death to certain relationships and seasons in our life. Death comes with loss and grief and this is where we get hung up. We fall into a state of mourning what was and our focus becomes consumed with what was until we are like a zombie, focused solely on survival. We get so consumed with what was we don’t think about what is or what could be! This is what happened to the prophet Samuel. Samuel was so consumed with Saul as the king of Israel he actually didn’t even consider that God had rejected him. As a matter of fact, Saul wasn’t even God’s first choice. God was the King of Israel but the people wanted a king and God gave them what they wanted. Eventually God rejected Saul as the leader of Israel and chose a shepherd boy named David.
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” -1 Samuel 16:1 NIV
Mourning is healthy but when our minds are consumed with loss every single day then it’s no wonder we lose our sense of direction and purpose. The mourning must end, we must move towards God’s plan for our lives. When our minds are filled with memories more than vision then we stop living and we start surviving. Let go of yesterday. Let go of the hurt, the shame, the regret. LET IT GO! Your future is waiting for you. Your life is an occasion… rise to it!
Jesus does want to resurrect some things in our life. The good things. He resurrected people from the dead all throughout scripture. These were people who made life better for those around them. Jesus can bring those things back to life for you too! But Jesus doesn’t resurrect the bad things that consume us. He isn’t into zombies. But we are. We have the power to resurrect the dead things in our life at any point. In fact, we are in charge of the walking dead. I find it interesting the only way to get rid of a zombie destroy it’s brain activity. Interestingly enough, the way we destroy the strongholds of the enemy is when we take control of our thoughts. We can lay the dead things to rest by renewing our minds. We don’t have to spend the emotional energy it takes in order to bring these things back to life but instead spend it on the new things God wants to birth in us. Yesterday is in the tomb and tomorrow is in the womb. We have a great future planned out for us but we must let the dead things… stay dead.
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Please leave your thoughts if you feel led and let’s continue the conversation! May God bless you!