THE GRIEVING PARENT'S PRAYER -- Devotional for July 21, from "Good Seeds"

But now he has died, so why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. (II Samuel 12:23)

Today is the birthday of our only son, Peter James Moore. And tomorrow is his deathday! For one day, back in 1971, we had a son. For one day, then God took him away. That day proved to be the most difficult day of our entire lives. Oh, we learned the cause of death: his lungs weren’t quite right, for indeed he was a few weeks premature. But we thought we’d weathered the storm, and we held him, and welcomed him into the family, and started making plans for him. But then, in a moment, he was gone. We didn’t even have the opportunity, as David did, to fast and pray, and to plead and contend with God, over him. It all happened in the wee hours, while we were sleeping. And unlike David, we knew of no sin in our lives that God was dealing with. David had lusted over another man’s wife. To make her available for himself, the king arranged for that man’s death on the battlefield. David’s son, born to Uriah’s widow, is the child in question in today's passage. When the prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin, he cried out in sincere repentance. The prophet then said, “God has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” Before David could sigh his relief, however, the Word of the Lord continued, “But, because of your dastardly deed, I will take away your son – yes, he shall surely die” (vss. 13-14). This, of course, was unacceptable to the king, and he proceeded to wangle his way with God. Was he not the “sweet psalmist of Israel”? Would not God indeed hear his sincere cries and relent from His former intention? But it was not to be. For Steve and Karen it was 17 hours; for David and Bathsheba it was 7 days – but in both cases, a little boy was all too soon dispatched to eternity. I can’t tell you why we lost our son. Only God knows. But from here on, our two stories match, for we learned to pray with David: “Our little one won’t come back to us – but someday we will go to him.” Yes, we will see our Peter in glory. He will be waiting and watching for us as we approach the heavenly city, ready to smother us in his strong embrace! In this grieving parent’s prayer we learn some vital life lessons: 1) There is such a thing as “the age of accountability,” and little ones who die before they could possibly express faith in God, will positively go to God! 2) There is such a thing as life after death, for it was not a decomposed body in a grave that David hoped to see, but a living, laughing, loving son, vibrant and alive forevermore! 3) Since only the righteous and the holy will darken (brighten!) the door of heaven, if we want to see our departed saved loved ones again, we must be saved, too. And there’s only one way: to choose heaven we must choose Christ!