You Give and Take Away

Monday the elderly father of one of our church folks died peacefully ending his long life. His daughter and son-in-law were by his bed while he slowly slipped into his eternal rest. He left behind family and friends who dearly loved him but were ready to release him to a fuller life.

That same day the brother of my dear friend ended his life with a bad combination of alcohol and meds, ending his struggles with bipolar disease and alcoholism. He left behind waves of guilt and pain as his family has to ask what they might have done to avoid this outcome.

Wednesday night one of my son's college friends returned to his dorm room after Bible study to find his roommate unconscious on the floor, and his attempts at resuscitation and the subsequent attempts at the hospital could not revive him. He left behind his roommate wishing he had stayed back from Bible study to be there when his roommate needed him, and his parents wondered what could have happened, and many friends missing him.

The elderly man had suffered for years from Alzheimer's, so his death was truly a ticket to healing. It's still sad to lose your dad and grandfather though.

The middle aged man had suffered for years from addiction and mental illness, so his death was also an end to much pain, yet left his family with deep layers of guilt and pain to unravel.

The young man had not been ill, and was not abusing substances, the autopsy will give the last word on what caused his untimely death. His death seems unwarranted, untimely, and unnecessary, leaving behind great grief and a sense of his lost potential.

I don't know if they have orientation in heaven, but if so perhaps these three met up having arrived in close succession. They certainly had different stories to tell of their lives on earth, and different experiences in dying. Yet they have this in common, I'm guessing even the college student wouldn't trade his current setting to return to his dorm room.

That just leaves the rest of us missing them. That leaves us wondering why at different levels. That can even leave those still here questioning how God could allow such.

This has been a week I won't soon forget, and not a good one. But for those three men, if you look at it from their perspective, it's their first week of eternity, and that gives it a whole new twist.

Our church loves to sing Blessed Be Your Name, which borrows words from Job, "You give and take away, blessed be Your name." I have always marveled at Job being able to say that about God taking away his children. However God may take folks to heaven, and we think of it as a subtraction, but for those who arrive in God's presence, it's an addition. They are receiving. And when we allow God to help us with the pain of being left behind, he will take that away too. He truly does give and take away, we just feel a bit mixed up sometimes about the blessing part.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.