Audio By Carbonatix

Why does God allow children to die? This is a question that needs no explanation. It is typically posed out of grief or a desire to understand and grapple with the complexities of God’s sovereignty. There have been many answers to this question throughout Christian history, yet we still ask it. So we can conclude that the answers given are either ones we do not wish to hear or that leave room for continued debate and consideration.

Let’s explore some of the foundational truths that are important to consider when attempting to answer such a delicate and highly sensitive question.

We know, as Romans 5:12 states, that when sin entered the world, an inevitable consequence followed. That consequence is death. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned."

This can be interpreted as meaning that no one born into the world is exempt from the penalty of sin. A very common emotional response is to look at the presumed innocence of a baby and determine that it is not deserving of death. However, the Psalmist declares, “surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (51:5) The idea that the sin nature and therefore, the consequences of that, reside in a child brings us to a rather harsh reality that children—while we may not see the inherit evils of sin fully at play within them—are not innocent.

So in short, whether infant or adult, death is not a penalty we will escape, nor can we escape.

This brings us to another fundamental step in answering the question at hand. What is death? Physical versus spiritual. Physical death is the termination of life within a person’s body. Spiritual death is defined as a permanent separation from God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear you.” One would argue, then, that spiritual death has far more shattering ramifications than that of physical death. Namely, eternal separation from God.

However, unlike physical death—from which there is no exemption—this spiritual death spoken of in Scripture—a penalty of sin—is miraculously paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Seeing this, it becomes clearer that when God views death in the Scripture, it is more often than not a reference to the spiritual death rather than the physical.

What should our perspective be then, of life, and death, and the age at which a soul meets death? It isn’t difficult to make the argument that physical death is a grievous experience. Even Jesus himself was met outside Lazarus’s grave—his close friend—and he wept over the man’s death in spite of knowing within moments, he would be raised from the dead. Still, this too was a physical picture of what happens to us spiritually when we are dead in our sins but then raised to life because of Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul poses a bold question by challenging, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Experiencing the physical death of a child is tragic and sorrowful beyond words. It can’t be argued that there is a definite sting to death in the physical form because of its physical finality. However, in its spiritual form, and covered by the sacrifice of Christ, there is no longer a finality of spiritual death. In fact, the sting of that death has been eliminated on our submission to and acceptance of Christ as Savior.

Because of this, we can step back from the question “why does God allow children to die” and instead, reposition our perspective to match His. Do we consider the value of our existence through time as we know it—confined to earth and our physical bodies—or through time as God sees it, which has no limitations and is eternal? In this case, if viewed from the perspective of eternal life, even an old body is young compared to eternity.

We have likely heard that earthly lives are brief compared to eternity and that suffering in this world, though real and painful, is momentary. We’ve also heard an emphasis on God’s sovereignty and mysterious purposes, and that while we cannot see how or why, we must trust that He had a reason for the child to pass away so young rather than live a full life. Faith is encouraged, which often feels like a request for blind trust when we crave answers over the passing of a young life.

Perhaps as believers in the saving blood of Jesus, the question shouldn’t be “why does God allow children to die?” but “why do we treasure our positions in a fallen world so deeply?” When viewed through the lens of eternity, a child who is covered by the grace of Jesus is living a full and beautiful life. A life that is in the presence of God, perfect and complete, without sin, without brokenness, and without the pain of the physical body. If viewed juxtaposed to how we typically see death, we can look at the passing of a young one into the presence of God as a salvation from many more years of trouble and trial that is a guarantee in the physical world.

Consider, then, the paradigm shift in our thinking as believers. From bitterness, anger, and heartbreak over a physical life cut short, to the bittersweet joy of ushering a child into the presence of God far sooner than most of us will experience.

Is there space for grief in the physical death of a child? Yes. Absolutely. Is there space for joy in the confidence we can have through the saving blood of Christ? Absolutely.

A simple answer to the question of why God allows children to die may very well be: we don’t know. At least, not as it applies to their physical death. We don’t know what His purpose was in taking them from their physical life so quickly. But we can say, “The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) And that is something to hope in.

For some final encouragement, consider these Scriptures:

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Related:

4 Comforting Prayers for the Loss of a Child

Do Babies Who Die Go to Heaven?

Why Does a Good God Allow Us to Suffer So Much?

The Courage to Grieve - One Mother's Story of Child Loss

Prayer:

“Dear Lord, you said that you would proclaim your glory through the mouths of babe and children, but you did not give my child that chance. I don’t understand why you would bless me with this little life and then take it away so quickly. I am grieving the life my baby never got to live, as well as the loss I feel. I’m grieving the memories we would have made together but now can’t. My arms are empty longing for this child. Give me the courage to hope and love again. Protect me from living in fear. Hold me in this process of grieving and replace my pain with joy again. Help me to trust you, even though I don’t understand why this happened. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” —Sue Schlesman 

Jaime Jo Wright is an ECPA and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author. Her novel “The House on Foster Hill” won the prestigious Christy Award and she continues to publish Gothic thrillers for the inspirational market. Jaime Jo resides in the woods of Wisconsin, lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimewrightbooks.com and at her podcast madlitmusings.com where she discusses the deeper issues of story and faith with fellow authors.

Audio By Carbonatix

Why does God allow children to die? This is a question that needs no explanation. It is typically posed out of grief or a desire to understand and grapple with the complexities of God’s sovereignty. There have been many answers to this question throughout Christian history, yet we still ask it. So we can conclude that the answers given are either ones we do not wish to hear or that leave room for continued debate and consideration.

Let’s explore some of the foundational truths that are important to consider when attempting to answer such a delicate and highly sensitive question.

We know, as Romans 5:12 states, that when sin entered the world, an inevitable consequence followed. That consequence is death. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned."

This can be interpreted as meaning that no one born into the world is exempt from the penalty of sin. A very common emotional response is to look at the presumed innocence of a baby and determine that it is not deserving of death. However, the Psalmist declares, “surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (51:5) The idea that the sin nature and therefore, the consequences of that, reside in a child brings us to a rather harsh reality that children—while we may not see the inherit evils of sin fully at play within them—are not innocent.

So in short, whether infant or adult, death is not a penalty we will escape, nor can we escape.

This brings us to another fundamental step in answering the question at hand. What is death? Physical versus spiritual. Physical death is the termination of life within a person’s body. Spiritual death is defined as a permanent separation from God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear you.” One would argue, then, that spiritual death has far more shattering ramifications than that of physical death. Namely, eternal separation from God.

However, unlike physical death—from which there is no exemption—this spiritual death spoken of in Scripture—a penalty of sin—is miraculously paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Seeing this, it becomes clearer that when God views death in the Scripture, it is more often than not a reference to the spiritual death rather than the physical.

What should our perspective be then, of life, and death, and the age at which a soul meets death? It isn’t difficult to make the argument that physical death is a grievous experience. Even Jesus himself was met outside Lazarus’s grave—his close friend—and he wept over the man’s death in spite of knowing within moments, he would be raised from the dead. Still, this too was a physical picture of what happens to us spiritually when we are dead in our sins but then raised to life because of Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul poses a bold question by challenging, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Experiencing the physical death of a child is tragic and sorrowful beyond words. It can’t be argued that there is a definite sting to death in the physical form because of its physical finality. However, in its spiritual form, and covered by the sacrifice of Christ, there is no longer a finality of spiritual death. In fact, the sting of that death has been eliminated on our submission to and acceptance of Christ as Savior.

Because of this, we can step back from the question “why does God allow children to die” and instead, reposition our perspective to match His. Do we consider the value of our existence through time as we know it—confined to earth and our physical bodies—or through time as God sees it, which has no limitations and is eternal? In this case, if viewed from the perspective of eternal life, even an old body is young compared to eternity.

We have likely heard that earthly lives are brief compared to eternity and that suffering in this world, though real and painful, is momentary. We’ve also heard an emphasis on God’s sovereignty and mysterious purposes, and that while we cannot see how or why, we must trust that He had a reason for the child to pass away so young rather than live a full life. Faith is encouraged, which often feels like a request for blind trust when we crave answers over the passing of a young life.

Perhaps as believers in the saving blood of Jesus, the question shouldn’t be “why does God allow children to die?” but “why do we treasure our positions in a fallen world so deeply?” When viewed through the lens of eternity, a child who is covered by the grace of Jesus is living a full and beautiful life. A life that is in the presence of God, perfect and complete, without sin, without brokenness, and without the pain of the physical body. If viewed juxtaposed to how we typically see death, we can look at the passing of a young one into the presence of God as a salvation from many more years of trouble and trial that is a guarantee in the physical world.

Consider, then, the paradigm shift in our thinking as believers. From bitterness, anger, and heartbreak over a physical life cut short, to the bittersweet joy of ushering a child into the presence of God far sooner than most of us will experience.

Is there space for grief in the physical death of a child? Yes. Absolutely. Is there space for joy in the confidence we can have through the saving blood of Christ? Absolutely.

A simple answer to the question of why God allows children to die may very well be: we don’t know. At least, not as it applies to their physical death. We don’t know what His purpose was in taking them from their physical life so quickly. But we can say, “The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) And that is something to hope in.

For some final encouragement, consider these Scriptures:

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Related:

4 Comforting Prayers for the Loss of a Child

Do Babies Who Die Go to Heaven?

Why Does a Good God Allow Us to Suffer So Much?

The Courage to Grieve - One Mother's Story of Child Loss

Prayer:

“Dear Lord, you said that you would proclaim your glory through the mouths of babe and children, but you did not give my child that chance. I don’t understand why you would bless me with this little life and then take it away so quickly. I am grieving the life my baby never got to live, as well as the loss I feel. I’m grieving the memories we would have made together but now can’t. My arms are empty longing for this child. Give me the courage to hope and love again. Protect me from living in fear. Hold me in this process of grieving and replace my pain with joy again. Help me to trust you, even though I don’t understand why this happened. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” —Sue Schlesman 

Jaime Jo Wright is an ECPA and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author. Her novel “The House on Foster Hill” won the prestigious Christy Award and she continues to publish Gothic thrillers for the inspirational market. Jaime Jo resides in the woods of Wisconsin, lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimewrightbooks.com and at her podcast madlitmusings.com where she discusses the deeper issues of story and faith with fellow authors.