I was writing a follow up article on Pentecost today when I received a phone call from my sister. She told me my great-nephew died today. I want to share what’s on my heart, but out of respect for my family I will not post any pictures of him and refer to him as my great-nephew.
My great-nephew was a young boy who had been sick for a very long time. Although I am happy he is no longer suffering, it still pains me to know that a part of my family has passed. It pains me to know his mother (my niece), his grandmother (my sister), his siblings, his aunts, and other close family members will hurt a long time. And it pains me he didn’t get to live a longer life.
My great-nephew did not grow up around me. Yet, the news of his death shook me to my core. Most people would say because he wasn’t around me it shouldn’t have affected me the way it did. However, all I could think of was that a part of my bloodline had died. This was not the natural order of things. Children should not die before their parents and grandparents.
When I was younger my mother used to tell me her greatest fear was having one of her children die before her. It was not natural. I used to tell her I didn’t want her to die before me either. Then she said, “Dawn, it is only right that I go before you. This is the way God created things. Parents go before their children, not the other way around.” My mother did not have to face her greatest fear.
As a mother I now understand what she was saying. So my heart goes out to my niece and sister because they should not have to suffer such a loss. I speak Psalms 30:5 over them, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning” and our Father who is heaven bottles up every tear we cry and writes them in his book because he cares about us.
I know all things work together for good to those who love Yahweh. I don’t know the reason he got sick or why he had to leave this earth so soon. But I do know the Father has the final say in anything that goes on in his creation. So I submit my pain to him in assurance of him healing it.
I echo Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away.”
Prayer Time
Our Heavenly Father, who is in heaven,
My family has lost a part of us today. May your love, shalom, compassion, and strength be with us during this time. For those who do not know you personally, I ask for you show them your salvation because it is my desire that my whole household be saved. Give your shalom to my niece, sister and those closest to my great nephew.
In Yeshua the Messiah’s name, Amen.