God's perfect timing

John 15:13 (New International Version)
13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Several days ago I was invited to do some grief ministry at a facility where one of the staff members was found unconscious and eventually passed away. This was a young healthy individual who had a young family, and was loved by all. She had everything going for her and everything to look forward to.

I was in a group talking with the young woman who was actually the first on the scene. These two individuals had lunch together every day and on that particular day circumstances separated them from doing so. Not surprisingly, she was lamenting that she had not found her coworker and friend sooner so that she might be saved. I’m sure any of us would feel that way. If they had just had lunch together everything would have turned out all right. But it didn’t that day. This woman felt helpless that she did not get there in time

Out of this tragedy though came a tremendous blessing. The individual who passed was a Christian as was the woman who found her. It was mentioned in conversation prior to our arrival that the deceased was an organ donor and that it had been identified in time so that many people would benefit from this death. As I sat there at the table I trying to help this grieving young woman work through her grief, I felt God nudge me to tell the woman that she got there just in time. I couldn’t remember chapter and verse at the moment, but immediately I thought of John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

When I shared these thoughts with the woman there was a significant amount of healing that instantly took place. She realized she had not gotten there in time to save her friend but in God’s perfect timing, she got there at the right moment to save many. Although her friend was dying, she was found in time to honor her wishes: to donate her organs so that others might live. This certainly did not remove all this young lady's pain and sorrow but it did help her try to make sense of the whole tragedy.

In this small moment in human history we saw a huge reflection of God’s love for us: that one should die so that many would be saved.

REG