Question of the Day

Day 15 – Why Does God Allow Children to Die?

A young friend in the Lord asked me this question and I’m glad that she did. It caused me to dig into the Scriptures! 🙂

One of God’s characteristics is that He is merciful.

As well, He is a God of love.

He is also a God of judgment.

These are merely three areas of God’s character. We must understand that we can’t possibly understand God’s reasonings behind everything that happens in our lives. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). There is nothing more heart wrenching for a parent than to see their own child suffer and die. There are two replies to this question. One reply is for those parents who are not true born-again Christians and the other is for those who are.

Let’s look at when a child dies whose parents do not know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. God’s word says that in order for one to be saved, one must repent and believe.

A child who has not reached the age of reasoning [where he understands what sin is and that he is a sinner] cannot repent from his sin and have faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when a child dies before the age of reasoning, he goes to Heaven. Once you understand this, it makes it easier to comprehend why God would allow such a tragedy. Unsaved parents who lose a child will be grieving and searching in their hearts for comfort. This allows the Holy Spirit of God yet another opportunity to reach them with the Gospel so they can be saved. So where’s the mercy, you ask? God could have taken the parents instead of the child. But where would their souls have gone if He had? They would have been condemned to an eternity in Hell. (John 3:18) Do you not see God’s mercy now? Instead of losing these precious parents to the devil, God chose to take their child because that child would be with Him. This is just another attempt by God to give the parents another opportunity to come to Him.

Then there are those times when God takes away the child of a saved couple. However, He promises to be in the midst of the trial by providing comfort (Psalm 23:4). This couple knows where their child is and they are encouraged because that child is with Christ and they will see their child again (John 14:3). Why would God take away a saved couple’s child? Missionaries to Cuba (the Cretzmans) recently lost their daughter in a car accident. You can Google their name and read article after article about the outpouring of love that was shown to this couple – it was amazing! As a result of their daughter’s death, opportunities for ministering to a lost and dying world arose and this grieving family was able to share the Gospel with others. God was glorified through it all and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up – as they witnessed the strength in this couple’s lives. That precious child’s death brought glory to God! In that trial, God comforted this family and showed His love and compassion through others. That precious family showed a dying world just how personal God was to them!

We cannot always understand God’s ways. But we know that all those things He allows in our lives is for our good. (Romans 8:28) For example, we read that Jacob was distraught when he thought that Joseph had died. (Genesis 37:34-35) We know by this account in Scriptures that Joseph had not died but went through years of imprisonment and suffering. In the end, God used this situation for the good of his people. It was because of Joseph that the Israelites were brought to Egypt and saved from famine. As well, later in time, Moses led these people to the Promised Land! God had a plan that wasn’t visible at the time but in the end, it became evident.

God doesn’t want anyone to perish and go to Hell. He provides every opportunity for man to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus, the Christ, Saviour and Lord of mankind. It is more merciful to take a child from his parents and allow the parents to come to salvation than to take the parents in their lost condition. That is true mercy!