Why did my uncle die young? How can we know he is OK?
Question:
I have recently lost my uncle due to a short illness. He was only in his thirties. When I read your website it only refers to people dying young as wicked. This confuses me as my uncle was a very good man at heart. Yes, he was not a saint but he had a good heart. He was the kind of person who never judged people and everyone was a friend to him. He helped everyone and was a very energetic person. He had a positive outlook on life. Even during his illness, he believed that the illness was just a bend and not the end.
We, as a family, are distraught and somehow wonder if God is there. How come we prayed for him to get better, yet God took him? Even we wonder: Is he OK? Where he is? Is he at peace? How can we ever get surety that my uncle is fine? We wonder and worry for him even at his grave. Perhaps we need some surety from him or God.
His death is not the first one in the family. My aunts have passed on and even my grandmother but his death is different, it has affected us negatively. He was the light of everyone's life, his friends, fellow business partners, and even the family. I was the one most close to him, and it's difficult for me. I wish I could just pick up the phone and call him. Why is it that we cannot even get a little sign from him that he is OK?
My family needs help and prayers.
Answer:
Nowhere do I state that only the wicked die young. There is a discussion that the wicked tend to die young because of their sins, but this is not a hard-fast rule. I did do a lesson about why sometimes the good die young. See: When the Good Die Young.
Those who pass on cannot interact with the living unless God intervenes, and He has done so only on very rare occasions. "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6).
What you are saying is that though God has told you what happens to those who die, you don't trust God fully. You want something more, though nothing more will be given. It becomes a matter of faith -- how much do you trust that God keeps His word? "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
