Do We Always Understand God's Plan ??

Do we always understand God's plan? Definitely not! There is no possible way our simple, finite minds could even attempt to believe that we could understand the plans of our Creator - the Creator of the universe. We certainly do sometimes when it is clearly revealed to us.

Recently, here in my current town of Ridgefield, Washington, we lost four new high school graduates in a car accident. Two of the kids went to our youth group and one of them was the daughter of a good friend of mine. Is there anyway the parents of these kids could understand why this happened. No, but we all must continue to trust in the plan of our Creator even if we don't understand it.

By knowing the daughter of this friend of mine, I have full confidence that she is standing before her Creator in awe, starting to search out the expanse of the New Jerusalem and is filled with joy and comfort in the presence of God. There is no pain and frustration left for her.

The feelings are quite opposite on this side of Heaven. There is quite a bit of pain and frustration. We don't understand why God called her so early. The pain and frustration is not for her, but for those left behind. For any friends and family who have put there trust in Christ that he died on the cross to wash away your sins - you will be re-united with her and all other Christians who have went before you when God calls you home. The separation is only temporary, but I would speculate, it "feels" like eternity when you are a parent who lost a child.

What does God want us to do during this separation? God wants us to do His work. God wants has given us special gifts and skills and He wants us to put them to work to glorify is Son and his eternal kingdom. While we still have time this side of heaven, because we don't know when we will be called home, God wants to use us to bring more into eternal fellowship with Him. We mourn our loss, celebrate those who get to experience heaven before us and continue to do the work God equipped us to do.