Austin's Blog

“Who plucked that flower?” Cried the gardener, as he walked through the garden.

His fellow servant answered,

“The Master!”

And the gardener held his peace.

This inscription is found on an infant’s gravestone in England. At first, our heart and mind may recoil at this heavy truth—God determines the length of our days. Yet, this has been a strange comfort and consolation in this time of grief. Gabriel’s taking, his passing, his short life was in God’s hands at each moment. The Lord is sovereign over our births, our deaths, and all of it in the middle. Job 14:5 says, “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” There are limits, which are set by God. David writes in Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Wisdom comes from recognizing our days are in His hands (Psa. 90:12, 39:4). God is the God of birth, life, and death. It is His right, His domain, His expertise, and His prerogative. Puritan John Flavel writes, “If we pluck a rose in the bud as we walk in our gardens, who will criticize us for it? It belongs to us, and we can cut it off when we please. It is the same in your situation. Your sweet bud, which was cut off before it was fully grown, was cut off by him who owned it, by him who created and formed it.”

God’s timing is perfect. His time is the best time, even if we feel that we needed, wanted, or deserved longer. Gabriel reached his appointed time. We often thank God for Gabriel’s little life when we pray with Addie at night. He fulfilled his purpose here on earth through his little life. Again, John Flavel says, “It is truly said that they have sailed long enough who have reached the harbor, they have fought long enough who have won the victory, they have run long enough who have touched the goal, and they have lived long enough on earth who have won heaven – no matter how few their days here may be.” I remind myself often that Gabriel wasn’t necessary. God did not need to create him. He did not have to be. Yet, God decided that Gabriel would exist, we would have him for 366 wonderful, joy-filled days, and that then Gabriel would live forever glorifying and enjoying Him. God is no less sovereign over his death as the day of his birth. He is no less sovereign over the 366 days we had him here as the unending days in the life after his death. What a glorious reality!

Some may think, “I can’t worship a God who is sovereign over such things! I don’t want God to have anything to do with death.” But John Piper wisely notes, “Let me ask you, my reader: in whose power would you want your life and death to lie? In whose hands would you prefer the destiny of your loved ones to rest? Would you want the length of your life and theirs to be in the hands of Satan? Or in the hands of aimless fate? Or in the hands of mindless and haphazard natural forces? Surely not. Nor are they! Every breath is in the hands of God (Job 12:10; Isa. 42:5; Dan. 5:23; Acts 17:25).” God is all-wise, all-good, all-gracious, all-loving, all-true, all-righteous, and all-knowing. We are immortal until our time is done, until our work is done.