When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned, God Is Still Good

This past week, my family had a hard day.

Rewind to July 9, 2013. The day my brother, Jay, passed away from brain cancer. He was in our living room on hospice care. My whole family surrounded him, telling him to go be with Jesus and reassuring him that we’d be okay. The dreariness of the weather outside matched how we were all feeling.

See, Jay blacked out 9.5 months prior at work and we found out it was due to stage 4 brain cancer. He underwent brain surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation. He was only 20 years old at the time.

We knew God could heal him on earth. We had so much faith and peace throughout this whole journey. But sometimes, God’s plan doesn’t make sense to us. Jay was healed. But, he was not healed on earth but in Heaven.

And this week, my family and I honored Jay’s life and the 10 years it’s been since he passed away. Boy, do we miss him!! I was able to go to his grave site and bring my two kids with me. How surreal is this…

Now, you might be thinking, this seems kind of doom and gloom. How can you say God is good?! Your brother died! Well, guess what? Jay is more alive than we all are right now. He was healed in an instant as he left earth. Jay’s life is a living testament to God’s goodness. Jay never spoke of death. Never!! He was filled with an overflowing amount of peace as he underwent something no one ever thinks will be their reality. He even said that if him going through this meant even one person’s life being impacted positively, it was worth it! At Jay’s funeral, over 30 people accepted Jesus into their life and many spoke of all the ways Jay impacted them. Even to this day, Jay’s life is making a difference.

Now, we don’t understand it. We wished Jay could be here with us. I wish he could’ve met my husband. He’d be an excellent uncle to my kids. It’s hard having an empty spot at the table. But, God is good. He healed Jay. And we have hope in Jesus that we will see Jay again someday. I hold onto that so tightly.

Tia Marie