When Bad Things Happen To Good People

I have several friends who lost their babies recently. They all lost their babies well past the 12 week mark of pregnancy. The mark that signifies everything is fine. The mark that means it is time to tell everyone you are having a baby. The mark that says it is okay to start planning for the little one in your belly.

A few of my other friends gave birth to babies with complications. Their babies spent extensive time in the NICU. And their mothers never knew what each day might bring or when they might be able to take their little ones home.

Other friends, and myself included, have special needs children. Children each of us would do anything for. Children we would bleed and die for. But children who on a daily basis are tiring and difficult and exhaust our stamina and patience.

And yet, all our children were uniquely and perfectly created by God. He formed every detail of our children in His mind, before the foundation of the earth and the beginning of time. He created each of them exactly as they are supposed to be.

And just as God foresaw the fall of man in the Garden of Eden before He created the earth, so also He foresaw the lives of our children before he created them. And what happens to them and what happens in their lives, God always knew would come.

And just as God could have prevented man’s fall from grace into sin, so also could He prevent heartbreaking and terrible things from happening to our children. And yet, for reasons known only to God in His sovereignty, He often choses not to.

Instead, He uses the difficult things that happen to draw us, and our children, closer to Him. He uses those things to chip away at our self and selfishness. And He uses them to mold us and shape us to be more like Christ.

And through it all, we are never out of God’s thoughts. He never forgets about us. We never lose is attention. And His eye is never off of us or off of our children, not even for a second.

Because we are His precious children. And He is in control of every detail of our lives and our children’s lives, even the most devastating and tragic ones, as well as the ones that don’t make any sense at all.