The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity, he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness (Isaiah 57:1-2).
The building where my counseling office is located has been sold so I have to move my office. I have to be moved by March 1st. As a result I have been weeding through old files and books and am confronted by the age-old dilemma, "What should I keep and what should I throw away?" I found a devotional book by Max Lucado that a friend had given to me when I graduated from seminary. The book fell open to a devotional on Isaiah 57:1-2 from the Living Bible. The Living Bible says it this way: The good men perish; the godly die before their time and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from the evil days ahead. For the godly who die shall rest in peace. This scripture helped me come to terms with my own personal questions and grief.
I've seen it happen several times in the course of my pastoral ministry where a family member will die and the "wheels" seem to come off the family. The family will fall into immorality, alcohol, substance abuse and estrangement, rejecting the very values by which the family apparently lived. It has often been my question to God, "If that person wouldn't have died, his family would still be functional. Why did you let him die?" In many cases, family unity on family values is only apparent. It wouldn't have made any difference if the family member lived or died, eventually the family would have come apart. The death of the righteous one spares him from the heart ache and sorrows of the evil days ahead. It might be that the grave is God's protection from a terrible future.
Our Father's Blessings,
Tom
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1 comment:
That is a really good insight.
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