Life and Death

Recently I was in the labor and delivery wing of a local hospital, going to visit a couple awaiting the birth of their baby. Passing one door, I heard the distinctive cry of a newborn. It immediately brought a smile to my face. I silently thanked God for this new life and asked His blessings on this family I knew nothing about.

In the next minute I heard a Code Blue call to ICU over the intercom. My smile left me and I stopped and bowed my head to pray for the person for whom the code was called, for the team that was responding, and for family members who may or may not have been aware of the drama unfolding in their loved one's room.

The struggle to bring a precious life into the world and the struggle to keep death from claiming a life were going on just hundreds of feet from each other in the same building. That night there were going to be happy conversations as phone calls were made to share, "It's a boy!" Possibly there was gong to be the equally sad news from other phones, "She died about 6:00." One family would prepare for a homecoming and another would prepare for a funeral.

Ecclesiastes tells us, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven -- A time to give birth and a time to die;" Those two events above were appointed by a sovereign God who holds all things in His hand. We can know that as surely as life comes, death will also. Hebrews 9:27 tells us "it is appointed for man to die once."

Knowing a loved one is saved and welcomed into the arms of a loving heavenly Father the minute he dies, brings comfort. However, the grief and tears of loss still come. Isaiah promised us, "He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces." What a cause for rejoicing!

Life and death. Joy and sorrow. Again, how thankful I am for a sovereign God who holds all things in His hand.