tragedy in aruba

We just spent seven wonderful days in Aruba with good friends enjoying white sandy beaches and snorkeling in crystal blue water. When we weren't exploring the beauty of the island, we enjoyed moonlit dinners on the beach and sleeping in the next morning (for us that would be 8 a.m...a true luxury!) All in all, it was a week to remember.

But not only for the fun and relaxation...but for the tragedy of a life ended suddenly and, from our limited point of view, prematurely.

My I-Phone carried the cryptic message on its face, ""Jeanette's dad died today..." Jeanette is my son Jeff's wonderful wife, and her dad, was Bob. Bob was fifty-eight years old and got sick one evening and fifteen hours later was gone. That quickly, without warning, the victim of a virulent infection that cut short his life. We loved Bob and Patty, Jeanette's parents, and almost always saw them on our visits to Dallas. We had something in common--Bob and Patty had pastored churches for many years, though Bob was now doing secular work--as well as our grandson, JJ, who Bob and Patty adored (he was their only grandchild).

"Trapped" in Aruba we could not get home to be with my son and his family and to share in Bob's funeral. It was a difficult time.

So how do we cope with such tragedies? How do we make sense of such a loss?

I am convinced after forty-five years as a pastor and also several years as a Hospice chaplain, there are no simple answers. Here are some things I do know.

1. God is sovereign and He knows the beginning from the end.

2. We are not insulated from traqedy in this world; Bob's death was a tragedy, but he had trusted in Christ for salvation so we are comforted to know that he is with the Lord.

3. God promises to give us grace and strength to walk through the "valley of the shadow of death"; He promises to not give us more than we can bear with his strength.

4. We may never know "why?" something happens, which presupposes a cause and effect relationship between who we are and what happens to us. We are told in the Bible that the "rain falls on the just and the unjust", so that our character does not determine whether or not we escape tragedy.

5. We are promised that God always has our ultimate good in mind, whatever the circumstances in life we experience, and, ultimately, God's purpose is to prepare us for eternity with Him.

Bob's death was a tragedy. Our being in Aruba unable to get to the States to be with our family seemed to us tragic as well. Patty, left without a husband; Jeanette without a father; JJ withour a grandpa--tragic losses, to be sure.

But I am comforted again--in the midst of tragedy--by the certainty of the promises of God's Word in Psalm 103:15-17,to which I have often turned and directed others for comfort.
"As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
The wind blows over it, and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlastingf
the Lord's love is with those who fear Him..."