NTM

I just read this update from the Inanbimali tribe in Papua New Guinea.

One couple, Lawrence and Gloria, just lost their four-day-old baby boy, a big blow to them. But the reaction to the death of this child was unlike any that the missionary team had ever seen in the village.

As they buried the boy, Lawrence stood and said, “God Papa, You hold all of us in Your fingers, and You decided that the time of this boy of mine was only four days. Death will take us all someday Papa. It is the promise all the way back to the time of Adam. That is just the way it is. But Papa, You know me. You call me child. So I will not let the liver of my stomach turn black (be bitter) over this. You marked my boy’s days and You have marked mine, but You have put me in the heart of Your stomach (You love me) and I know there is a reason for this. You always have thinking for Your children (a reason why things happen to believers).”

The incredible thing was that a father never speaks at a child’s funeral and if he does it is with rage and suspicion over who or what caused the death. So it was shocking for everyone to hear what he said.

Bitterness is something I know too well, so when I read this man’s prayer, it really touched something within me.

Just yesterday I was visiting with a cousin who was sharing his new-found appreciate for the idea that everything in our lives, even the bad, God has personally allowed. If God has allowed it, we shouldn’t get bitter about it.