Where Is God When a Child Dies?

When a child dies whether the death is from natural causes or by sudden onset of illness or accidental death, parents ride a roller coaster with their emotions for days, weeks and months to come, or it sometimes can go into years. As for my husband and myself, it has taken years for us to deal with the death of our daughter Cyndy.

Cyndy's death we knew was coming but just didn't know when she would actually go home. Her neurologist told me the day before Thanksgiving in 1996 during her follow-up visit that he was worried that Cyndy was going down the hill quicker, then he genuinely believed, and that she would probably go with in a year's time. My first thoughts were where is God when we were facing the thought that Cyndy was going to die. How could He be so uncaring to take a child in the prime of their life? Doesn't He love us or care that we are hurting?

With in six weeks of Dr. White telling me Cyndy was going down the hill, Cyndy went to be with the Lord on January 1, 1997 in the early predawn hours of the morning. The shock of waking up and finding Cyndy dead, I wanted to know where was God when my child was dying. Why didn't He set off my motherly instinct alarm? The numb feelings of going through the motions of taking care of funeral arrangements, we were in disbelief and angry with God for taking our daughter. Pushing God away in the middle of a crisis is our natural response to our way of trying to deal with the loss of the child. Parents are use to children putting parents in the grave and not parents putting children in the grave.

When a child dies no matter how old the child is when they die, it is no easier losing them when they are in the womb, or if they are born and die moments after birth or six weeks, year or eleven years later as Mark's and my daughter was when she died. Think of how parents feel when their son goes to Iraq and comes back home in a body bag that is sealed close. The last they saw their son, he was laughing and playing before he left or calls home and tells his Mom, "I love You" and he is gone the next day. That is hurt and anger that would make me stop and ask God the question why.

Now had Cyndy died from something other than natural causes, such as in an accident or had she been murdered, I would have been more angry with God on how could He take an innocent child and caused them to go through the pain of being murdered. Our case with Cyndy, yes we were very hurt with losing our daughter but the one thing, we held on to was that Cyndy wasn't seizuring anymore along with she was doing things that she couldn't do on earth such as walking without her legs being weak and painful, and she could talk for once. There fore we knew that Cyndy was in a much better place now, and that we will see her again in the morning.

Learn more about this author, Anne Harrell.
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