I Hate Death

Life just stinks sometimes.  

Our close friend, who lost his wife last year, leaving him raising 3 of their 5 children alone (2 are adults), lost a niece of his yesterday.

She was 33 years old.

The same age as my oldest child.

My husband and I spent a week praying for her and her husband and ministering to them a few years ago at a marriage retreat.  They were kids to us.  We couldn’t ignore their struggles in life and in their marriage.  We’d “been there, done that”.

Not only did our friend lose his wife – a precious friend of my husband and I’s – but he lost both his parents, his mom shortly before his wife died, and then his dad after she died.

And now a 33-year-old niece.

This precious young woman was a wife to an awesome young man they call Bear, mother to four darling children, ages 2-11, a cherished sister, beloved daughter to parents I know all too well how they are feeling today, and an adored co-worker.

This is tragic.

I hate death.  

I remember my husband saying, soon after our son passed away, that death wasn’t in God’s original plan, and that’s why it hurts so bad.

I agree.

God never intended us to be separated from our loved ones like this.

I believe God intended us to walk with Him “in the cool of the day” (see Genesis 3:8) all the days of our lives; not struggle and toil, trying to get through life as close to unscathed as we can.

My heart breaks for the family of the young woman who passed away unexpectedly yesterday.  I spent the day staggering around in disbelief, getting nothing done.

This morning my Bible fell open to Lamentations chapter 3; it is full of hope in the midst of grief and sorrow.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  Lamentations 3:21-26

His compassions never fail.

He is my portion – in this life and in eternity to come.

I will wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.