My sister lost a baby girl through crib death over forty years ago, and still the pain persists. She has often 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. For all these years, my sister has been very angry with God about this. How do I answer her question without getting into an argument?
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 strike anyone at any time, even innocent little babies.
When babies die, they go straight to be with God, so you’re correct in saying that your niece is with her Heavenly Father. He didn’t take her away from her parents but received her to Himself after she became a victim of our sin-filled world.
1 John 5:19 tells us the whole world is under the control of the evil one, so he’s the responsible party here. And as long as people blame God for things like this instead of him, he can keep them miserable.
The fact is God wants to heal her broken heart, but He can’t as long as she blames Him. 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, isn’t permanent. She still has the chance to spend eternity with her daughter, and to know that no one could ever separate them again.
Until then, she only has to ask the Lord to forgive her for being angry with Him for all these years. Once she does this from her heart, a peace that surpasses all understanding will wash over her and she’ll finally be able to get closure on this tragic event.
Paul wrote, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the Sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephes 4:26-27). Footholds become strongholds, and strongholds become fortresses. Your sister has been a prisoner in a fortress of her own making for 40 years. It’s time she set herself free.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:7-8).