In our 3-D world, the Devil (I know, I know, that label is “oh so old-fashioned”) has the power of death and as a result, the ability to cultivate a fear of death. If I succumb to that fear, I am enslaved by it. The Christ mission broke death-power and its sidekick, fear.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Christ] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
As long as we fear death, audacious faith is more difficult to grasp and hold and act upon.
Supposedly, the Christian norm has been to look forward to heaven, that eternal reward promised when we die. And yet, there are few who rejoice when a loved one perishes, few who can face their own end without navigating the stages of dying and grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and only, at the last, acceptance. Christian or no, most of us still fear the unknown of body death.
I think it has to do with a bit of tenuousness in the faith journey. If I put all my faith eggs in a basket and actually pray/expect a miracle, what if . . . what if . . . it doesn’t happen? If I put my faith on the line like that, won’t it break? If I am disappointed again and again, won’t my faith suffer? Better to be safe and secure and lukewarm. Not.
No surprise here . . . I don’t exercise my faith in the majors much: you know what I mean, things like raising the dead, healing the terminally ill, bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and so forth. I fear the death of my faith. And so, the “Devil” wins again.
The Devil is not a man but an entity. We can no more understand what/who the Devil is than we can understand the transfigured Christ. To say the Devil is an “angel of light” [II Corinthians 11:14] on one hand and a fallen angel [Isaiah 14:12, Luke 10:18] on the other isn’t much help either.
We live in a world of balancing opposites like night and day, darkness and light, yin and yang etc. But the most potent set of opposites are love and fear. That’s right, the opposite of love is fear, not hate (which is merely a subset of fear). If I want to do battle against fear, that includes the fear of anything–including death, I must enfold, exude, swell, manifest, embrace, share, and trust the power of love. I’m thinking that miracles, birthed by the Holy Spirit, must be an outgrowth of this powerful and singular energy.
“[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” [Ephesians 3:19, Amplified]
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” [I John 4:8]
I am no longer a slave to fear by the authority and work of the Christ. Isn’t it time I stopped acting like one?
Meditations from Zion 
I was blown away reading this. Especially: “the most potent set of opposites are love and fear.” Reminds me of: “the opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.” Love and fear are our only two emotions. Fear is a call for love, and love answers itself, therefore therefore there is only one response to all things. Etc etc lol.
I, like you, also rarely exercise my faith on the majors. I have in the past, the miracles usually don’t happen. It’s caused me to actually tell God that it ‘s not That I don’t think He can….I just don’t think He will. And, as we once discussed before, miracle type healings probably have less to do with the body than with the spirit. Interestingly, this has not diminished my faith. I just keep going back with questions, and with the understanding that I often misunderstand the plan, assume it’s about me, and ask for the wrong thing. As for fear of death and rejoicing for a loved one who has headed home, I think it’s for us that we grieve, and, having done that several times now, I ‘m finding that my fear of death is not nearly as strong as it once was….my treasure IS in heaven, and I look forward to going there. My big hang up there is that I know it’s Jesus I should be longing to see. I bet He understands, though, and all that we’ll be reprioritized when I see Him.