The "What Ifs"

I think it is natural for us to think about the what ifs when something tragic happens.  What if we had prayed more, what if we had done more, what if we had believed more.  I still struggle with those questions sometimes.  I think that when I do struggle with those questions, my eyes are turned away from God and turned towards myself.  I start thinking I know best.  I start thinking my plan is better.  I starting thinking about me... and just me... my world... my future... my comfort.  But what about God's plan?  I had a women in my own church tell me that all I needed to do was pray hard enough and surround myself with people who believed my child would be okay and he would.  I know she meant to bless me with her words, but honestly, those words haunt me sometimes.  But what does His word tell us?  That is where we will find our comfort, our hope, our understanding.  Will you turn there when you struggle with the "what ifs"?

4/19/07 

So, lately, Daniel has been thinking (and me too, to tell you the truth) that maybe there had been something we could have done to save our little boy. Maybe if we had been more aggressive in our care for Jack, he would have survived. But could this be true? I mean, maybe he would have died sooner? But then what about… 

Ephesians 2: 10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

If He prepared in advance our good works then Jack couldn’t have died before he had done all the good works God prepared for him. 

Also, what about … 

Acts 17: 26 “From one man he made every nation of me, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” 

So, this has to be true for Jack too, right? I mean God determined where and when and for how long he would live. God determined when he would live and die and we could not change or thwart His plan. 

Isaiah 57: 1,2 (TLB) “The good men perish; the godly die before their time…. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. For the godly who die shall rest in peace.” 

Psalm 116: 15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” 

Psalm 139: 16 “… your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

I love Job's (a man all too familiar with suffering) response in Job 42: 1-3 "Then Job replied to the LORD:"I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."