“Therefore God does not confront faith with trivial things but with such things as all the world cannot bear, like death, sin, the world, and the devil. For all the world is not able to stand up against death but flees from it, is frightened by it, and is overpowered by it. But faith stands fast and battles with death, which devours all the world, and gains the victory over it and devours the insatiable devourer of human life.”
~Martin Luther

Although we are unaware, the living contend for life with every breath. The ignorance of youth blinds us to this intense war, but death crouches at the door just the same at 9 minutes old or 90 years.

But there is faith, and it exemplifies what it means to be more than a conqueror—to stop that enemy in his tracks, to face him down and declare victory. The battle rages so intense that you don’t feel victorious, but triumph is promised. Still the ultimate contender is death and all roads lead there except the narrow way.

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”(Matt 7:14).

The devil’s end is to destroy, steal, rob, and kill—ultimately kill. The thing is that you can’t even trust your own judgment on this. Proverbs says,

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death,”

so if you are weighing the pros and cons of your life’s choices and pathway, your best guess, without God, leads to death—our ultimate adversary.

As Martin Luther has so eloquently reminded us,

“But faith stands fast and battles with death…”

Faith is the substance of things not seen.

Listen for the whisper of faith in your ear, “Go right or left.” This is that which agrees with scripture. This is the direction that gives you peace. This is the way that is confirmed by godly counsel. This is the guidance that leads to life and triumphs over death every time.