Non-random randomness

My heart has been heavy these past few weeks. A Facebook friend lost her husband in an accident at home. A college friend lost her three-year-old son in an accident involving a car. And just yesterday, another dear sister found out she lost her eight-week-old baby in miscarriage.

And then there are the recent deaths of those I don't know. The two young boys who were killed when a tree fell on the tent their family was camping in during the derecho that moved across the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic states a few weeks ago. The rest of the family, in the same tent, survived. And the man struck by lightning at the NASCAR race in the Poconos.

Sometimes--like in these situations--death seems so . . . so random. So capricious.

And yet, I know that death is neither random nor capricious. Because I know the Author and Finisher of each life, and He is neither random (1 Corinthians 14:33) nor capricious (Mark 7:37). I know that God has ordained the number of our days from before we were born (Psalm 139:16; Job 14:5), that He holds life in His hands (Daniel 5:23; Acts 17:20-28), and that He gives and takes away (Job 1:21). And that, in all things--including death--He is working for His glory and for our good (Romans 8:28).

Although (as my friend Georgia once said) knowing the truth doesn't take the pain away, I know why death is part of this world and I cling to the promise that the One who brings affliction in this now-fallen world is also the One who brings healing and hope.

“See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand." (Deuteronomy 32:39)

As I bring my friends before the throne of grace, I'm asking the Lord to fulfill His promise to comfort them, to draw close to the brokenhearted, to use these situations for His glory and their good, and to draw others to Himself. And to gently remind them that the apparent randomness is not so random, and that He is still on the throne and always good.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)