Insurance commercials preach that life comes at you fast. Under the same breath is the message that death comes even faster, like a thief in the night. A friend of mine, S___, called me yesterday afternoon to tell me of tragedy. Sometime between Friday night and the rise of the sun on Saturday, S___'s little brother T____ suffered blood loss, broken bones, and brain damage. The doctor's were able to stop the bleeding and maintain the bones, but it was the brain that they couldn't help; it was up to his body.
The spirit falls on a people in such drastic times like a flood.
I recall a number of plights that has faced this family over the past few years. Recently, where this same young man lost his sight in one eye while yet another member of the family was diagnosed with lymphoma.
Some of us know a person or a family that has taken a beating in terms of hard times. We start to pray for God's will to be done, but in out thoughts we're really thinking "Alright God, enough already with the rain falling on this family". For me, this is truth. I don't want Silas, nor his family to experience any more pain.
Another man to be visited by intense loss is Steve Saint, author of The End of the Spear. As a father, Steve Saint's daughter came home from a year long missions trip reporting a headache. Less than 9 hours later she was diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage and lay dead in a hospital. The response that Steve Saint gives to his daughters passing is jaw droopingly un-worldly.
God is our creator, he knows how intricately and beautifully we are each made and we must yield to his calling.It is by grace that we are called to come home, even at the final hour of the day. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot
At 7:51 this morning I received a call from S___, and was told that his brother had been called to come home to God. Knowing them both as the closest thing to brothers that I've ever had leaves a hole in my chest. Life comes fast, unfortunately it never stays as long as we want. Prayer for his family is most important at this time. It feels unnatural for parents to outlive their young, and Christ's love through you must overflow.
The ripple effect is at hand, and while I have yet to see what great things are yet to happen from this sorrow I rest in confidence that the hand of God is in all of our lives, loving us and bringing us closer to his grace.
May we be broken and be remade with less of ourselves, more of Him.
trevor.diaz@gmail.com
