Angry With God For 40 Years

My sister lost a baby girl through cot death over forty years ago, and still the pain persists. She has asked me why God took her daughter. My sister has been very angry with God for this. How do I answer her question without getting into an argument?

Q. My sister lost a baby girl through cot death over forty years ago, and still the pain persists. She has asked me why God took her daughter. I have to admit that I don’t know, even though I know my niece is with our Father in Heaven. My sister has been very angry with God for this. How do I answer her question without getting into an argument?

A. Try telling her that two of the many consequences of sin coming into the world are sickness and death. And the worst part is that they can affect anyone at any time, even innocent little babies.

When that happens to babies they go straight to be with God just like adult believers do, and so you’re correct in saying that your niece is with God. God didn’t take her away from her parents, but received her to Himself after she became a victim of our sin filled world. Satan is pleased when we blame God for things like this because it makes people mad at God instead of him.

Your sister has been angry with God for 40 years, and so for all that time Satan has been afflicting her. God wants to heal her broken heart, but He can’t as long as she blames Him for this tragedy. If she could realize that this wasn’t God’s doing but Satan’s, she could see that her forced separation from her daughter, though painful, doesn’t have to be permanent. She still has the chance to spend eternity with her daughter, and to know that no one could ever separate them again. She only has to accept the Lord’s death as payment for her sins, which includes being angry with the wrong person over the tragic death of her daughter.