Nobody "Dies Before Their Time"

Originally posted as a facebook note 1/11/11 - I read a thought-provoking article today that stated that nobody "dies before their time" - that there is no such thing.   You are on this earth for a certain amount of days, you fulfill whatever divine purpose you were put here for, and then you are called home through death here on earth to eternity.

Psalm 139:16 is the verse I claimed the day Max died in his car crash that helped bring me comfort and I grabbed on to God's Sovereignty with.  This article used that same verse.  This is a concept I have been kicking around in my brain for a couple of weeks now - our purpose on earth and when we die it is fulfilled.  Max didn't choose to die anymore than I choose to continue living each day.  Only God Himself has authority over life and death.  (I believe this to be true even if someone tries to commit suicide - how many do you hear try and fail?  It's up to God when death comes).

I was discussing this with Todd tonight and told him part of what I felt was wrong with this argument is that nobody TOLD ME Max was approaching the finish line.  Todd asked me what made me feel like I should be in the loop, LOL.  Hmm, maybe having something to do with Max growing inside of me for nine months, I guess.   The other thing that feels wrong with this is that Max was making plans for his future ... college, marriage, just LIVING.  If only we had KNOWN the finish line was in sight and that his future was not here on earth.  Todd helped me see that even if we had KNOWN the finish line was coming, we would have FOUGHT WITH EVERYTHING IN US to keep him here, to prevent that finish line from coming to be.   No parent wants to say goodbye to a child in their death - EVER, why would we?

When I get to eternity and can see things with eternal eyes, I will probably understand that there is a starting line and a finish line for every soul, and that IS how it really works.  I think Scripture supports this concept.   Ephesians 1:17  "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."

Then the controlling human part of me wants the LIST of what Max's purposes were and how they are fulfilled after only 18 years ... PROVE IT TO ME.  Todd is right, of course.  I have no right to even ask to be in the loop or see what God's plans or purposes are.  I just have to trust in faith that Max DID complete his purpose on earth and I have to release Max to God.  I know this is a process.  I also know that Max is WITH GOD, whether I release him or not.  I just make it a harder struggle for myself by clinching my fist and refusing release.

I had someone introduce this concept to me ... if God himself appeared in the clouds on a white horse in ALL HIS GLORY and asked me if he could take my child home to heaven "early", a place where there is NO sin, NO suffering, just LOVE, just LIGHT, just BEAUTY, where his every need would be met and he would be safe and taken care of ... would I have given permission for him to miss out on the pain of this world?   Hmm, I think I just might have if it was presented that way, yes.   Especially because there is the promise of being reunited when I meet up with My Lord in Heaven.   Isaiah 57:1 & 2 say this - "The righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."  Do I believe it - YES.

It is a process ...  I'm just simply not ready to move completely into acceptance ... but I am working on it.