Fading Too Soon

Just before I left for the airport, after some meetings with pastors and local church elders, a man approached me with a heavy burden on his heart.

His wife was pregnant, and just a few days before, medical tests confirmed that the baby she was expecting had anencephaly (much of the brain and skull missing). Her physician advised her to have an abortion, but she wanted to have the baby. Months later, I learned that, by God’s mercy, the baby was born and survived for two weeks, giving the mother some time with him. It is terrible to see miscarriages and little children suffering and dying so early in life! On September 20, 1860, Ellen White had her fourth child, eventually called John Herbert. Later she stated, December 14 [Friday], I was called up. My babe was worse. I listened to his labored breathing, and felt his pulseless wrist. I knew that he must die. That was an hour of anguish for me.

The icy hand of death was already upon him.

We watched his feeble, gasping breath, until it ceased... We followed our child to Oak Hill cemetery, there to rest until the Life-giver shall come, and break the fetters of the tomb, and call him forth immortal.

After we returned from the funeral, my home seemed lonely. I felt reconciled to the will of God, yet despondency and gloom settled upon me.

Many ask, “What about young children who die?” Ellen White offered some helpful insight on the subject. She explains that children of believing parents will be saved because the faith of those parents “covers the children, as when God sent His judgments upon the first-born of the Egyptians.” Yet, Ellen White adds, “Whether all the children of unbelieving parents will be saved we cannot tell, because God has not made known His purpose in regard to this matter.” Whatever God’s purpose, it is a blessing to know that He loves and cares for our little ones!