Not Fair

My heart is heavy this afternoon.  I attended a funeral today for a family friend from church- a strong 40 year old Christian man who was a husband and daddy to three precious boys, the oldest of which is 16 years old.  As the slide show of pictures played before the service started, I found myself crying and thinking that this is not fair.  It's not fair that he was in a severe car accident before Christmas that resulted in him having several surgeries in order to save his arm.  It's not fair that his family thought everything was going to be okay, and then on Friday morning he fainted in their closet at home.  It's not fair that he died due to a blood clot relating to his accident they think.  It's not fair that his wife and three boys have to go through loosing a husband and father so young.  It's not fair that his parents outlive their son, and that his three sisters loose their only brother.

There is a great article written about Bryan here.

It is a blessing that in God's perfect timing He allowed Bryan one more Christmas with his family.  It is a testament of the life he lived for God's glory that the sanctuary was full today; full of old teammates he used to play football with and all of the people whose life he touched.  There is hope because even in this, God is sovereign and will use this for His good.

As we begin this new year, I am struck by the truth of my pastor's message on Sunday.  He preached about life being a gift.  We don't deserve and are certainly not guaranteed one more day on this earth.  Life is a gift that God gives us freely.  Pastor Curtis challenged us to pray about what God wants us to do with it.

The last couple months, we have personally been surrounded by a lot of tragedy.  Our pastor in Waco, Mike Toby, passed away from brain cancer after being suddenly diagnosed a few months ago.  A work friend of my dad's passed away this week from health issues.  My college room-mate's husband is battling very aggressive cancer for the second time in his short life of 30 years.  They have a one-year old daughter.  A co-worker's sister was pregnant with a baby boy and due on January 10.  Over the holidays the baby passed away in-utero only a couple of weeks before her due date.  Another one of my co-workers lost twin grandbabies when her daughter went into pre-term labor at 20 weeks yesterday.  And, a third one of my co-workers' brother slipped and fell over the holidays and is in a coma he is not expected to wake up from.

I don't understand it and can't begin to fathom the grief these families are suffering.  But I do know and believe, "that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, and who have been called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

My devotional today was about hope.  Hope in the Lord is the only thing that brings light into this kind of darkness. "God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." - Psalm 46:1

Please join me in praying for these families; that God would fill them with His strength and His peace.