“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”

I’m going to the memorial service of a friend today. Her husband is a close brother with whom I have worked side by side in ministry for a number of years. I love them both. I grieve with her husband as he ponders why God would take the love of his life at this stage of their journey. I remember having those same questions when my wife went to be with the Lord a number of years ago. It was easy for me to see the value in leaving her with a teenage daughter and several young sons who still needed a mother’s guidance—or at least that’s how it seemed to me. She was highly respected, and her voice spoke into the lives of many high school and college women. There was certainly no shortage of young women who still needed that same voice. Yet, like the wife and mother who will be celebrated today, the Lord took her home as well. The day after my wife passed away, my teenage daughter came downstairs and, to my amazement, said, “Daddy, I think I know why God took Mom yesterday.” I was stunned. I could come up with a few possibilities, but nothing that definitive. I knew she had suffered greatly from cancer, but healing her and allowing her to continue impacting our family and our community seemed like a pretty good plan to me. But it wasn’t the Lord’s plan. She explained that morning she had read Oswald Chambers’ devotional about the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. She shared how Chambers explained why God took Elijah when He did, and suddenly it all clicked with her. That insight became a tremendous gift from God at a time when we desperately needed it. Today, find comfort in knowing that God never does anything with the intention of hurting us. Instead, He works through even the most painful circumstances to accomplish His perfect purposes as He conforms us to the image of His Son. We may not understand His reasons, but we can trust His heart. #BeTheEdge

“These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10 (NIV)