Last night as I was joking and laughing with my husband when I got a text from my sister, saying that a friend from high school died. I was not particularly close to him, haven't seen or talked to him since graduation. He was a very nice guy, always helpful, was never mean to anyone. My dad has kept up with him, went to his wedding even. So, for instance, I know that he had 3 little girls and a very nice wife, I know that he raised and sold organic beef. But I have no current face to put on this, it left me looking through pictures on old high school friends' facebook pages, scouring to find something current. Unfortunately, I found nothing, which has left me feeling a bit empty.
I am, however, immediately aware that 4 peoples' lives have taken a dramatic turn. There is now a woman who will forever be a widow and 3 three little girls who will forever be without their dad. God is shaping the rest of their lives, right now. Instead of being left with the overwhelming feeling of mortality, that everything we know could suddenly be ripped away, I am reminded of God's sovereignty. I am reminded that God's will, will in fact be done, even if it hurts. The shaping, the molding, it hurts. We don't know what His plan is for those girls, or that poor woman who all have a very difficult time ahead of them, but we know that God will be glorified. We know that He is there for them to turn to. I honestly don't know if he was a believer, I pray he was. I pray that his wife is now turning to Jesus for comfort, to cry out his name. I pray that those little girls find comfort in the arms of Christ, that even when they're mad at Him, they believe in Him. As Christians, we don't grieve because we have lost someone. We are created in God's image! God mourns separation from us, we mourn the separation from those we love, even if, like God, we know it is temporary. If He mourns separation from us and has a better understanding than we can ever hope to have, we have no hope in escaping the pain.
I'm not trying to make light of the overwhelming feeling of loss that one will feel when they lose someone. I still mourn the loss of a man who meant more to me than I can even say, even though I KNOW that he has reached, what he called his "greatest goal" He wanted nothing more than to see Jesus face to face and spend eternity worshiping the Father, but I miss him and I mourn that my kids never met him. This is what this family is now facing, except this man died young and suddenly, of course that adds to the trauma of it. There is so much that his family will need him for and wish he could see, but again, I say, God has a plan. Our tiny minds cannot grasp the enormity of His plan, or yet, the simplicity of it. We ask very small questions, like "Why do bad things happen to good people?" If we track all of history, every moment, every blessing, every sin, do you think we'd understand it then? If we made a chart of good people doing good things would it outweigh the bad things that happen to them? Or if you're the more vindictive type, we can make a chart of the bad people who do bad things and see if the bad things that happen to them outweigh the good things? Would we, even then, find justice? Does it even matter? Our creator has asked that we worship Him and honor Him. If we believe in Him, we WILL have eternal life. We will spend eternity in perfection, in a place where there really isn't pain, or jealousy, or sorrow. So why turn your back on eternity to be able to ask why God would allow such pain? He is your savior! He is your path! He is your reason!
As my husband is at work today, one of my babies is at school, five in an orphanage in another country, and two here with me, I pray that God will protect them. I pray that I will be able to hold them all in my arms. But if not (and that is a distinct possibility) I pray that God gives me THE peace that surpasses all understanding. That I will have the faith to accept His plan and turn to Him. And I pray that Joel is resting in your arms today
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