“There’s no sense in getting upset you can only look at the positives.” Elijah left us with those words. He had no way of knowing how many of us would be telling God that we’re upset and we want to see the positives in his death.
For those of us at the top of the pain chain, this has been an especially difficult week. We endured two milestones: the one month anniversary of Elijah’s funeral, and the two month anniversary yesterday of the day he went to be with the Lord. For those who don’t know, Elijah died of hypothermia in the hundred acre woods behind our home. It took two weeks and seven extensive air and land searches before we found out what had happened to him.
On each of those milestone days, Melanie and I were trying to figure out why we were crying so much more than usual. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t shed tears, but these two occasions were tsunamis. Kind of like the mourner’s version of dry heaves. But in between the wrenching of my body, I cried out, “Really, God? Does it have to be this painful? Can you please remind me of all the positives, because right now I just miss him so much!”
Those words echo back to me. “Really, God?” I wonder what right I have to even ask the question, since challenging God seems presumptuous at best.
Being angry with God is a problem. I might as well just tell Him that I’m smarter than Him and He did everything wrong. “Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:25). So if I shouldn’t be upset with God, at least I can ask Him to show me all the positives. And He has faithfully shown us many, many positives of the transformational impact that Elijah’s life, and death, are having on people around the world. I will continue to share the news of those positives as best I can.
My challenge melts into trust. My faith in God is strengthened. And then I’m reminded of another message that Elijah left us: “Always have faith in God because without him what else is there?”
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-Ken Buchanan
