The past month has me thinking about when people die. Not how they die. Or why they die. But WHEN they die and if it’s sometimes just a sad accident vs. God’s timing.
First, I think about my dad who died at the age of 97. Dad had lived longer than he really wanted to live. I remember hearing him call out to God to take him after he was hurting so much when he needed hip surgery at 96 years old. His quality of life had passed. He spent endless hours sitting with the TV on, dozing, probably playing memories over and over in his head, and waiting.
Then, last week tragedy struck locally when a 17 year old, a rising high school senior, and a basketball star, got caught up in a strong riptide in the ocean and could not escape it. It took a day for his young body to wash up on the shore.
Just the other day a man who had served our country proudly over in Afghanistan and Iraq, and had earned medals, took his own life by jumping off the bridge between my town Georgetown, and Pawleys Island. He had PTSD and could not stop thinking about the horrors he saw in war. He could not overcome it, and he could not find peace back home.
And last, we all watched the assassination attempt on Donald Trump that took the life of a man who was firefighter and a father. He was in the stands behind Trump at a rally. He was there to support the candidate and to share the experience with his family. He died sheltering them from bullets.
These deaths were all very different. All of them but my Dad’s passing were unexpected. At least they were to most people.
But, were they unexpected to God?
It’s been a conversation happening because Trump’s close call has some people saying ‘it was not his time’ and that ‘God has big plans for him.’ They believe Trump was spared for a reason, and directly by the Almighty. Some people believe we all have a clock ticking and our time is planned, and we need to be ready.
As a Christian, I agree that we always need to be ready. Don’t put off for tomorrow what we need to do today. Confess our sins. Say we are sorry when we have errored and hurt others. Use today for some good. Share the Good News of God’s promise for an everlasting life beyond our time on earth.
I cannot say for certain that God does not plan how long our time on earth will be. I mean, God doesn’t have to live on a linear line of days like we do. God is ‘timeless’ and all knowing. He sees the big picture and He also sees minute motions we go through.
We all have a personal relationship with God. I know you have heard this before. God knows YOU! And, He knows YOU are unique and different from everyone else. So, the connection I feel, my gut feel, with God, is one that says I am given free will and I make my own decisions. Some decisions might save me. Some might lead me to my death. Every day I make choices and some are for my own safety. Yet I know I can’t keep myself totally out of harm’s way. And I don’t know if my body, which seems healthy, will turn on me. I could get hit by a car – or I could have a stroke. The young man who went swimming for enjoyment certainly didn’t think a riptide would take his life last week. The dad at the rally didn’t know a shooter would gun him down on Saturday.
Did God know? If so, did God make a choice NOT to save them? And did God somehow push Trump by a fraction of an inch to save him a more direct and deadly hit?
I don’t know. I believe in divine intervention but I don’t think it’s always obvious or grand. I believe we feel nudges at times. I believe we can also have ‘aha’ moments too.
But is God behind the events that take our lives? Are we just God’s puppets?
I know God heard my Dad’s cries. Did God purposely wait? Did God see the boy in the riptide and not give him enough strength to get out of it? Did God see the man on the bridge fighting visions of horror, and let him hop over into the water? Did God know ahead of time the man at the rally was right where bullets would fly?
I don’t think anyone has the answers. I certainly don’t. But, I don’t think God just picks and chooses. What I do believe though is that when people do die that God is there. God is with the person ‘passing’ on to what is next. God is with the family and friends who mourn. God brings love to sad times. God gives peace when emotions are raw. God comforts. God gives hope. Ask, and you will receive it from God.
That is how we get through dealing with death whenever it comes.
Be it an accident, a planned finish, or a body wearing out in old age.
WHEN is not planned, but WHO is there when it happens and that means everything.
Marla’s Musings 