One year ago this week, we sat around our long farm table in the kitchen with friends and prayed. We pleaded with God to save the life of a dear friend, a young father, hanging with his life in balance unconscious and in a coma. We cried out to God asking Him not to take our friend from his wife and children, just yet.
Our friend Don was there at the table with us. He didn’t know this friend personally that we were praying for, but he prayed with us. I distinctly remember hearing his voice ask, “Was he sick?”
We went on to explain that he wasn’t and this was so sudden. We all talked about horrific it was, but we trusted God with the plan. And we prayed.
God didn’t answer our prayers for our friend the way we had hoped. And there was great sorrow, but the consolation was that God is still good.
And then just a few weeks later, Don, who had prayed with us so lovingly for a man he never met, but inquired about the suddenness of his death, was also taken. Just as suddenly. From a wife who loves him dearly and six precious children.
It is almost too much to comprehend. This came on the heals of a summer filled with sorrow. First, my aunt passed away after a very quick illness. It was shocking. Then just a few weeks later, a lifelong friend’s life was taken by her husband in a murder-suicide leaving three children behind as orphans. Then a month later, my uncle was taken suddenly.
And then in each subsequent month, these two friends.
It is truly incomprehensible. And when I look back and see how a year has passed and there are always days of sorrow and days of joy at any given moment for any given human…it all just seems so confusing.
But God.
He never promised this world was easy. And He has surely kept that promise! But there is hope. Hope for a future (not an earthly one). And even though the pain and sorrow and suddenness of death last year was all too present, He is still good. After all He is the One who gave us these beautiful people in our lives in the first place. I was better for having known each of these people for so many reasons.
So yes, God is good.
Do we grieve? Yes. Are the situations bad? Yes. But God is good. The circumstances are not, but He is above all circumstances.
As I pray for all of these families that have been so painfully affected by death this year, I am reminded at any moment it can be any of us.
But I take comfort knowing that I will see my Savior and this earth is not all there is. In fact, I look forward to the day when I will be with my Savior forever. There is no fear and no dread. There is hope.
But it is still hard for so many. That is why I am writing today to let all who God brings to this little blog post- if you are in pain and suffering, or if you don’t have that hope, please know there is a God who loves you and wants you to know Him.
If you want to know more, please email me. I will pray with you and for you. It is my desire to know Him and make Him known. I can’t let anyone I come into contact with go on without knowing that eternity is available to all who want to surrender to Jesus.
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