What did Paul realize that kept him from wanting to die?
Paul realized there was unfinished business: people still needed to be reached with the gospel, as only he could do it. Though confident and willing to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, that remaining work kept him from seeking death as an escape.
Les explains that Paul had been on a sickbed in Philippi, had almost escaped with his life out of Ephesus, and was under constant attack from adversaries both within the church and without, so death almost became a welcome escape. But Paul realized there was unfinished business: people still needed to be reached with the gospel, as only he could do it. So while he was confident and willing to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, he said, “Wherefore we labor,” because his life was not his own. He had long since counted his past Judaism as loss, though it was lucrative and likely included an expensive lifestyle and a family.