The Death of a Loved One

How do we keep our faith when God allows a loved one to die? How do we, as believers in a loving God, correlate our faith in the wake of a tragedy, especially when the death comes on swiftly or unexpectedly?

We must remember that, over the rest of the world, over those who walk in the darkness of unbelief, we alone can find comfort even in the face of great and terrible grief. First, if we know that our loved one walked with God, that he or she ‘fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith’ (2 Timothy 4:7) then we can know that they now walk with God in a place where they will never know suffering or emotional pain. This understanding often provides the only whiff of comfort those left behind can find. And though it is, perhaps, small comfort compared to the knowledge that we must somehow go on without them, it is a grace unbelievers do not have.
Second, we can search the scriptures and therein find that God always knows what he is doing. Even in tragedy, God’s will and plan are in effect. It rarely makes sense to us, why God would allow this tragedy. We might go on the rest of our lives without ever finding a logical human explanation for why dad had to die, for why mom was forced to endure that cancer before God took her. But God knows.

But God knows.

If we can accept that He knows why, then our understandable resentment (and perhaps even disappointment) of God will begin, with time, to diminish and we will find a peace that passes understanding, a peace that will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus during this crisis of faith, this time of bereavement (Philippians 4:7).

And know this: your loved one is rejoicing right now. This very minute. His or her suffering has ended and joys forevermore have begun. Cry for your great loss, but when you are done crying you can lift your eyes to the Maker and realize that, in time and if you continue to walk in the path of righteousness, you will see your beloved again, and all will be well in that day.
God be with your hearts. Amen.