We all go through difficult and painful times and when we do, I think it's really normal to ask a certain question. That question is, "why?" Why did this happen? Why did it happen to me? Why did it happen to them? What in the world can God possibly do through something like this?
Recently, a friend of mine found out that his son was in an accident overseas and died during a hiking trip. Now, this person is a prominent Bible scholar but this didn't stop him from asking the question that so many of us would ask in this scenario, "why?" Many of us often wonder if we'll ever get answers to that question or not and to tell you the truth, I don't know either.
However, here's what I do know when things like this happen and especially when it's the sudden loss of a loved one. I want to tell you four things that I can prove from the Bible that comfort me:
- Death is not a friend. 1 Corinthians 15:26 says this: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
- Death is from Satan. John 10:10 says: "A thief (which refers to Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance."
- Jesus wept in the face of death. When Lazarus died, he wept. (John 11:35)
- God created us for life. (John 10:10)
I don't have an answer to the big "why" questions of life, but I do know that we have a solution and that's Jesus. He came to defeat death because death is such an aberration to God's plan that He sent His son to conquer it once and for all.