What kind of God would let my little child die?

At three, she accepted Jesus into her heart. She knew then, without a trace of doubt, that Jesus loved her and would take care of her. From that time on, she tried in her own little-girl way to do what Jesus would want her to do.

But at five, the doctors found that she had cancer. Because she had wanted to be a good little girl, she had not complained when the first pains started coming, and by the time the cancer was discovered, it was well advanced.

Those doctors struggled and struggled to save her life. Several months of chemo-therapy and radiation followed, months during which much prayer went up to God for this little girl, not only from the local church, but from many across the country. But in the end, the cancer took her life.

So what kind of God do we serve? An uncaring God? A God who does not, or cannot, answer prayer? A powerless diety? A God who does not want us to have any enjoyment in life?

Christ: the real portraiture of God

Jesus was full of love for people. When some little children wanted to talk to him, he said, "Permit the children to come to Me, and stop hindering them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." 2 When Jesus talked about the kingdom of God, he was referring to all his followers, both those who are alive on earth and those who have died and gone to heaven.

Jesus is the embodiment of love. But many wonder about God himself, as if he was different from the Son, "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, ... and ... He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him ..."3

Jesus is humble. He urges us to be likewise humble. Does he urge us to be humble just to be stepped on by a God that has a great big ego needing stroking? Does he want us to yield to a God who would deceive us about his real nature and power?

The Bible says "God is love." 4 Love and selfishness do not go together!

So what kind of God would let this little child die?

The same God of whom the Psalmist declares,

"Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones. The Bible says "God is love." 5

This same God who will one day exalt his followers to the highest joy.

The same God who bore the incredible pain of sending his own innocent son to die in our place, so that we could be saved from sin and sorrow and be set free to enjoy his presence forever.

The same God who lovingly stoops down and carefully takes this little one home to be with himself.

For God to watch his own son die for our sins was as hard as watching our own loved ones die. When tragedy strikes, emotionally we do not understand it. However, even in death there is purpose and meaning, although we may not comprehend it in our hearts.

Even in death there is victory, because Jesus has risen triumphantly from the grave. We too, who trust in him, shall rise again to eternal life.