FDNY Prayer - Difficult questions

Difficult questions

When people are suffering, it isn't enough to answer their questions
intellectually. Sometimes "Why?" is the only word they can find to express
the difficulty they have in grappling with their loss, but an answer with words
doesn't come close to what they need.

God understands their needs and He knows how to comfort those who
mourn. He is also able to bring other people into their lives who have suffered
to help them bear the burden and demonstrate the compassion of the Lord.

If you are searching for ways to comfort someone who has suffered a loss, this
page may NOT be the best resource. There are excellent resources available
online. (Note the link in the right hand column.)

Why does God let young firefighters die?

Death looks different to God than it does to us. An old Hebrew prophet
observed this in Isaiah 57:1:

Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

There is another verse in the Bible that explains how much God knows about
our lives, past, present and future in Psalm 139:16.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your
book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

God, in His wisdom, looks at each life and determines when and how He will
intervene. He tells us clearly that we should pray and that He listens to our
prayers, but sometimes, He chooses not to do as we hope because He
understands all things and knows of greater good that will come.

This is very hard to accept when you lose someone you love, especially if the
death adds great hardship to those left behind. Is this really the best plan of a
loving God?

Recently a dear friend of mine died of cancer leaving behind her husband and
four children, including two young daughters. Our whole church prayed
fervently for her and yet the Lord did not intervene and heal her. The cancer
itself had gotten out of control because of a doctor's negligence.
I don't have an answer for all the questions that came up surrounding this
loss, but one scripture that comforted me was this:

Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His godly ones.
Psalm 116:15

I realized that as much as we loved her, God loved her more and to ask Him
to grant her more years with us was also to ask Him to sacrifice having her
with Him in heaven. The Lord longs to have us with Him, never to suffer
agaiin.

Kathy left a heritage for us. She was a wonderful, amazing woman of God and
we are all proud of her. God filled the years that she had with many blessings
and her life was very fruitful. One of the last things she did was collect shoes
for destitute children in the Dominican Republic, a place that had her heart.
Now her oldest daughter is headed there to teach poverty stricken children
full time.

The firefighters in the FDNY who die leave a rich heritage to those who
survive them and to all who hear about their lives. We are so proud of them
and we want to learn from their example.

The Lord God is also proud of them.