Following is a letter I wrote to parents of a young daughter about seven years old whose newborn baby brother died, leaving her in inner turmoil.
Dear — [Mother and Father]
You are in our prayers these days. I pray that you will know his beyond-all-explaining peace (Philippians 4:4-7) and that this letter will help in directing C— into the Lord’s rest.
First of all, her recent questions stem from her sense of loss and the confusion of emotions, concern for parents and their grief, personal sorrow, and even a ruffled selfishness (which underlies much of adult grief because we are sinners). It is doubly hard for a child when heavier losses come before matured ability to identify and handle the pangs.
A basic axiom to keep in mind is this: all children can ask questions which require answers that are beyond their capacity to receive and understand (Maybe reread this!) C– is very bright and very sensitive. This makes it more difficult — but not at all impossible.
Therefore, you might begin at this point: “C—, will you one day discipline your children? Will they always understand and like all that you do when you must punish or deny certain things? Right! And sometimes they will not know how much you love them and will only think of the things that give them pain. But all the while you will love them and keep working hard for their good. It’s the same way with the Father in heaven. We are his children, and we don’t always understand things, especially when we are hurt. But then we study the cross and know how much he loves us. All that suffering Jesus went through really troubled Jesus’ disciples. Then everyone was surprised because it brought forth so much good! Our sufferings and sorrows came into the world through our sin, and we all suffer — but God in love keeps bringing blessings to us.
“Adam is the daddy of all the human family. We get our name, reputation, character, and material things from our fathers. When a father turns to sin — like Adam, and also Eve, did — it hurts the whole family.”
“But then Jesus takes over as head of the Christian family, and we get salvation riches and blessing from him. All this is taught in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. We are now in God’s special family. We cannot simply blame Adam and Eve. We also sin — even after we know all this. Now, when little ones go to be with Jesus, they are taken away from all evil and go into the Lord’s presence without ever doing any wrong. If they had lived a few years longer, they would have sinned like we all do because of our bad hearts. But you see, God kept them from the bad experiences of sin.
“None of us fully understands all this, and these sufferings hurt a lot, but we must simply trust God. We love him and know he never does wrong.” Study I Corinthians 13:12.
Well, ————- [Mom and Dad], I hope this helps. You dare not over magnify the matter, and yet it must not be ignored either. God give you balance and confidence.
Your friend in Christ,
Pastor Burchett
The above was quoted from Appendix 7 of my book, Bringing Christ Back. Dr. David Macomber, past Field Director of WorldVenture, said the following;
Bringing Christ Back by Dr. Harold E. Burchett, is a priceless and practical theology desperately needed by the modern church to drag it out of the doldrums — far too many of its “average” believers are find no release from agonizing chains of sin. Its knife-edged message is that the powerful presence of Christ seems to be withdrawn from the church as crucial truths about our Lord are reduced to common platitudes. When Christ is brought back as the center of faith in fact, not just in theory, believers will experience his deliverance from sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.
To order Bringing Christ Back, go HERE