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"He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also He has put eternity in their hearts,
except that no one can find out
the work that God does from beginning to end."
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Doug Groothuis is a professor of apologetics and philosophy at Denver Seminary. On July 6, 2018, his wife, Becky, died after a difficult battle with dementia. He is the author of the book, Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness—A Philosopher's Lament. I listened to an interview that featured Dr. Groothuis, and I was touched by his honesty and transparency as he shared about the journey he traveled through the suffering and death of his wife. Becky was a brilliant and talented lady, but her ability to reason, communicate, or do the simplest of tasks was rudely halted by this devastating illness. Dr. Groothuis bares his soul in his book and speaks of the times he was very angry at God. But he also shares how God sustained him and brought him to a better place. He initially wanted to entitle his book Walking through Darkness but changed "darkness" to "twilight". He changed the wording, he says, because after the pain and difficulty of darkness, a new day of sunshine begins with the twilight, the period of time between dawn and sunrise.
My family has personally experienced the pain of dementia and Alzheimer's. My mom began developing signs of this dreaded disease in her 50s and passed away after a protracted struggle with it. She passed away on November 18, 2014 at the age of 72. The ravages of dementia affect many in our country. I am so glad that I will see my mom in heaven where there is no disease or suffering. Until that time, let us keep trusting God and walking by faith during these dark nights of the soul.
The title of our devotional today, "Not Why, But What Now?" is a quote from Dr. Groothuis. Today's biblical text is from Ecclesiastes because Dr. Groothuis spoke of how this biblical book gave him comfort and helped him in his journey. This rhetorical question caused me to ponder the truth of his assertion. He challenges those who are going through hardship to not ask why but rather accept what you cannot change and move forward the best you can. I hope this helps you as it helped me. Life is hard, and all of us will walk through the valley of suffering and death. But thanks be to God, because as a follower of Jesus, we have the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the promise of God's Word that we will go to a place called heaven. The Apostle John writes in Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
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