I was one of those people who would hear others talk about the amount time that had ticked by since their loved one had passed away and I would think to myself, “Well I’m never going to keep track, that sounds depressing!”
On the 24th of August, I was working in the store of our family business and I just happened to look at the date on the computer screen and the very first thought in my head was, “Wow! It’s been 20 days since my Dad’s been gone.” I was shocked when it hit me! I was never going to be “one of those people!”
I realize now that you don’t have control over those thoughts. It just hits you…Out of nowhere! Time ticks by, and there is no stopping it.
I got to thinking about THAT DATE. The date that was written in time to be THE DATE that my Daddy would be on the other side of Heaven. His death date.
We have no control over the day we are born or the day we die! Those dates are written in time, and no matter what we do to change or stop them, those are our dates.
I heard on the radio about a 17-year-old kid dying, and it felt awful because they were so young and “had their whole life ahead of them,” but that’s just not true! That was their “death date.” There is no stopping it.
God had a plan. We may not like that plan when it takes our loved ones away from us, but it’s still “written in time.” No matter what we do, or how much we wish things were different or even those thoughts that come saying, “if only we did this or that they would still be here”, the date will come and we can’t stop it!
As strange as it sounds, there is comfort in knowing that we can’t stop that date from coming. It wasn’t our fault, and it wasn’t ever in our control. It was the date they were going to go, regardless of anything we did to keep them here.
The Lord’s plan is always better. It’s just hard for us to accept because we don’t get to see the plan ahead of time.
My dad would get very frustrated with his health, and many times, as we were making doctor’s appointments, he would look at me and say, “Well, maybe I’ll be in Heaven by then.”
Daddy was tired. He was tired of being sick. One time on way home from a doctor visit he compared himself to Job from the Bible.
The best part of Job is the ending! Job didn’t get to see the end in the middle of his story! This was something I reminded my Daddy when he would get discouraged about all the things going wrong and failing him in his body. I would just say, “Just like Job, you are in the middle of your story, and only God can see the ending.”
Job’s story, just like my Dad’s and mine and yours, is written by a God who formed the stars and created the seas AND STOPS THEM at the shores, and “laid the foundations of the earth.”
The end of the story is hard on those of us left on this side of Heaven, but what a comfort to know that God is in control of all our dates…From birth to death!
Cowles Farm 