Our daughter has been renting a room with a family in the city where she lives on the other side of the United States from her mom and me. It’s been a good transition spot while she’s been in between apartments and making some changes in her own life. The family has three little kids. The little girl mentioned is super close to our own daughter who is 28. She is like an adopted niece, or maybe our daughter is the adopted aunt. Addie and her older sister stand patiently outside her bedroom door each morning waiting for our daughter to emerge. Our daughter claims Addie as a “mini-me” even though they have no blood ties. Addie has an adventurous spirit, confident leadership personality, and a talkative nature that inspires and impresses adults. Just like our daughter did as a little girl.

The family had left for vacation after Christmas. This message came to us on Dec 26th. Later that night, our daughter called us in tears. Addie didn’t make it. I’ve never heard our daughter weep so heavily in all her life. A couple of days she was informed that it was sepsis, a bacterial or viral blood infection that is hard to detect, but curable. She’d been sick, but the doctors couldn’t figure out why. Now it was too late. 

What is a family to make of such horrific events? Where is the protector God, now? Why does He allow this? How can He possibly be trusted after an event like this? These are the moments when trust in God gets pulled so far apart from actual life experience that faith is stretched into a thin translucence that hangs on only by the tiniest of threads - if it holds together at all. There is no praise left, only cold, empty lament.

Jesus must have a special heart for little ones. Through most of human history major portions of the population never made it past the first 5-6 years. Only in the last 80 years or so has child mortality leveled off and stabilized and even then, it’s only in highly developed countries. Why does God take so many children from earth? What is their destiny? Do children automatically go to heaven? I believe the answer is yes.

When King David’s baby fell sick, he fasted and prayed. But when the child died, he rose and washed and ate. His servants didn’t understand why he didn’t totally fall apart once the child died. His response was, “But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23. David would be known for centuries as a “man after God’s own heart”. He is one of the great heroes of the Judeo-Christian faith and definitely in heaven. His words, recorded under the power of the Holy Spirit, tell us that children who die are in heaven. That’s what his phrase I will go to him, means.

Jesus implied that little children do indeed have guardian angels and are held under the grace of God when he said, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” Matthew 18:10-11. An interesting difference because when Jesus spoke about adults while he was in the house of Zacchaeus, he said 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. The implication is that he doesn’t seek the little ones because they are already in connection to him.

The Prophet Jonah was angry that God did not destroy wicked Nineveh. God’s answer to Jonah’s anger was that His pity and compassion and restraining His wrath, was due to the innocent children in the city who weren’t even old enough to tell their right from their left. The presence of children spared the city and gave them an opportunity to repent. “But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left?” Jonah 4:10-11

Do children grow out of this protection at some point. Most definitely. Is there an age of accountability in the Bible? That is way harder to prove. It probably varies from individual to individual and only God knows for sure when the line is crossed. The historical perspective has been somewhere around age 12-13, corresponding with both Jewish customs of adulthood. Some look at the incident when he was twelve and Jesus separated himself from his own family to identify with his heavenly Father “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49

I have always been intrigued by Isaiah 57:1-2a which states 

     The righteous perishes,

     And no man takes it to heart;

     Merciful men are taken away,

     While no one considers

     That the righteous is taken away from evil.

     2 He shall enter into peace;

Sometimes, God takes the righteous away to spare them from the evil that is in the society around them. I have wondered if the reason he takes children is that he knows all their possible choices and destinies in life. Does he take some to spare them the pain of life that would have been? Perhaps he takes them to insure they come to heaven to be with him. Only He knows if given a chance at a full life it would not turn out well and they would’ve been lost to him forever. God is wiser than we can ever hope to comprehend. 

Just a few days prior to receiving this news from our daughter, my wife and I watched a video of the story of Tara, posted by friend Randy Kay. The YouTube channel RandyKay.org does interviews with people who have had Near Death Experiences. Tara was raised in a devout Christian home. At 10 years old she completely rebelled. Pregnant at 14, drug addicted, sex-trafficked, another child murdered, and a criminal history, her story describes overdosing while under arrest, dying, going to hell, getting rescued by Jesus, and eventually waking up in the morgue on a table with a sheet over her head. Her life story is horrific. Her rescue and redemption are miraculous. I could not help but think of Tara’s story when considering why God takes some children so young. Only God knows the outcomes of their life choices. Does he do severe rescues? Maybe.

I do know that parents who have lost children and kept their faith seem to share a common understanding. These little ones always belonged to God. They become grateful for the time they had with such love and delight, which is better than having never known them at all. They are absolutely confident they will meet again for eternity. 

Stephen Curtis Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter was tragically killed in an auto accident. it brought forth an album Beauty Will Rise with many of the songs his personal laments and insights from the long healing journey of the loss. I’ve read some incredible insights and poetic wisdom written by Kalley Heiligenthal, a Bethel worship leader whose 2-year-old daughter died in 2019. If your struggle is finding faith again after such tragic loss, there are those out there who can guide you. There is hope.