On this day, three years ago, my cousin, Silas, died in a tractor accident.
Three years ago we stood around a grave made for a little boy, who from our earthly perspective, was much too young and full of life to have stopped breathing for good.
We wept our hearts out. Oh death you sting so greatly!
What a joy he was, his big, beautiful smile, his laughter, his sweet trust in the Lord. I wish Silas was here, getting ready for the summer and endless playing to begin, but we will live another year making memories and doing life without him.
How is it possible amid such pain and loss to remain hopeful? To not be given to despair over the fact that death will eventually come for us and those we love one day and there is nothing we can do about it?
I take comfort in these three truths today:
God is good all the time, and everything He does is good. (Psalm 119:68).
One day He will make all things new and restore this broken earth into a Kingdom of light and peace, and all our tears will be washed away. (Revelation 21).
None of our suffering is meaningless. It is all for a purpose and though we may not see it earthside, we can trust in a sovereign Father who will redeem even our deepest, greatest sufferings. (Romans 5:3-4).
As C.S. Lewis wrote,
“Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”