Four baby funerals in one day just seems like too much. It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks at work, culminating today with four funerals of children less than 2 years old. All of them were very traumatic and pretty unexpected. One got hung in the mini-blinds at home and was strangled to death. The other was playing with his mom in his hospital bed one minute and then pouring blood out of his mouth and nose the next. Another was finally starting to get well and had a seizure. Another had just come in for a clinic visit earlier that day and been fine, and went home and died later that day. Forgive the vivid descriptions, but it's difficult to explain just how really horrific and tragic they were without knowing the circumstances.It's really rough times like these that I have to remind myself of God's sovereignty and that all His plans are for His glory and our good. As Isaiah reminds us, His plans are from of old, and they are faithful and sure.
"O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name,for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure...For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place...He will swallow up death forever;and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (from Isaiah 25)
I'm so thankful that during these times that seem as though I'm being beaten down with a storm against a wall, that I can trust in the Lord whose plans are faithful and sure. He makes no mistakes, and all that He does is good. So, I encourage you whether you've watched 4 babies die this week or gone through some other difficulty, rest in Him. He is our shelter from the storm. May we wait for His rescue that is coming when He will swallow up death forever and wipe away all tears. Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation, for this world is not our home. This life is just a camping trip...we are seeking the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14). May we live with that in mind.
