How could this happen? How could God allow our beautiful daughter Melissa to be taken from us in a car accident at age 17? And it's not just us. It's also our friends Steve and Robyn, whose daughter Lindsay, Melissa's friend, died 9 months earlier. And what about Richard and Leah, whose son Jon—another of Melissa's friends—lies in a gravesite within 50 yards of both Lindsay and Melissa?

How could God allow these three Christian teens to die within 16 months of each other? And how can we still trust Him?

Unable to comprehend such tragedies, we cling to Psalm 139:16—"In Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me." By God's design, our children had a specific number of days to live, and then He lovingly called them home to their eternal reward. And we find comfort in God's mysterious words, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (116:15).

The death of those close to us could rob us of our trust in God—taking with it our reason for living. But God's unfathomable plan for the universe and His redemptive work continue, and we must honor our loved ones by holding on to His hand. We don't understand, but we still must trust God as we await the great reunion He has planned for us.
  — Dave Branon