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Finding comfort and closure after loss
This article was originally published in The Christian Science Monitor.
When people are lost without any explanation, their friends and relatives are left with unanswerable questions: What happened? How did it happen? Did they suffer? These are some of the questions that people worldwide are asking about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared over two weeks ago and has now been declared “lost” by authorities. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those onboard.
I can identify with them. A number of years ago, a family friend failed to return from a day hike in the rugged mountains of eastern Oregon. After nearly a week of search and rescue operations, the search was canceled. Our friend was never found. I was left with nagging questions: What happened to him? How could something like this happen to an experienced mountaineer? Did he suffer?
There were no human answers to my questions, so I turned to God, who for me is the source of all understanding. Intellectually, I believed Christ Jesus’ words, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28, 29). I prayed to know that not one of God’s ideas—each of us, including my friend—could be removed from God’s love and care.
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