Whenever Precious Children Die

Whenever precious children die,
We cannot help but ask, "Lord, why?"
"Why would You take this little one
With so much of life still left undone?"
And yet we know You have a plan,
Though we may never understand,
And from the time of each child's birth,
You know when each will leave this earth.
And though our years be long or few,
We ultimately dwell with You;
And only You know when we've met
All the goals that You have set
For each of us to meet down here;
So never need there be a fear
That there has been some dread mistake,
For errors, Lord, You never make.
And, so, although we know not why,
We know it was his time to die,
And that with Jesus hand in hand,
He walked into Your Promised Land.
Of course, we cannot help but grieve--
We were not willing that he leave,
And we will mourn his loss each day
And miss his sweet and loving ways.
We'll think on days both bright and drear,
"If only Rob were with us here...."
We know our hearts will always ache,
But us, O Lord, You'll ne'er forsake;
All our sorrow You will share
And our pain You'll help us bear.
And still, O Lord, we trust Your plan--
We know one day we'll understand,
When we can meet You face to face
And You will all our tears erase.
So may it comfort us somehow
To know he lives in heaven now,
And that with Jesus, hand in hand,
He walked into Your Promised Land.

Saralyn McAfee Smith