A family member’s husband was diagnosed with two types of late stage cancer and was given a grim diagnosis. Healing prayer for him followed, but the cancer raged, leaving him in extreme pain. We saw no healing on the horizon for him and at some point agreed to ask God to hasten the time of his dying, confident that he would then enter heaven. Our prayer for a speedier death was answered. Both grief and relief followed his death.
My mother, a Christ-follower, began to show signs of dementia. In a short time, it became obvious to all of her children that she needed around the clock care and none of us were in a position to provide it, though two of my sisters had tried valiantly by having her live with each of them. Eventually we placed her in a nursing home. She lived in a memory care unit until her passing five years later. Those years in that home were excruciating for us. I’m not sure how much our mom was suffering since she seemed to have little awareness of where she was or who we were. I didn’t sense a healing was going to materialize for my mom and prayed, like some of my siblings, that she’d die sooner rather than later. Speaking only for myself, when I received the news of her death, I felt relief.
As my friend Tom Stuart reminds me, when we pray for someone to die “sooner rather than later,” it’s good to also ask the Lord if there is anything He wants to keep our loved one around for a little longer, to experience. Perhaps there is some unfinished business between the Lord and him or her. Perhaps there is something God wishes to accomplish through him or her. Paul attested to the fact that he knew his death was somewhat imminent because he had “finished his race” (see 2 Timothy 4:7). David experienced death only after he had “served God's purpose in his own generation” (see Acts 13:36). So, on the one hand, it is understandable why we want the day of someone’s death to arrive sooner. On the other, it is helpful to ask God to accomplish as much as possible in our loved one’s life so that he or she can be dismissed “in peace,” like Simeon.
Next week: Is the time of your death entirely predetermined?