An all-too-common experience when a family member passes away can occur: those who remain will look to see what was left for them by the departed family member. That happened when we lost a dear parent some years ago. The passing didn’t come as a surprise since illness had been diagnosed at an advanced age. Death certainly would be expected, barring a miraculous intervention by God. Prayers played an important part during this time—personal care as well—seeing that the best medical help and daily concerns were provided during each of their remaining days.

 

Once passing became a reality, our time with the deceased family member was completed, leaving us with good memories of many years spent together on short road trips, dining experiences, holiday joys and celebrations, and more.

 

What transpired next brought surprise, if not shock! My husband and I were not prepared to face what transpired next. Possessions left behind had never been a second thought for us. We merely wanted to close out the property and move along with current pressing concerns of family to manage. To our surprise, part of the family zeroed in on anything of value that remained. Before we knew it, a new car had been taken without even discussing who should receive it. Other items of perceived value suddenly were missing from the beloved one’s home. Beyond the shock of discovering these things had been claimed, we were left with the problem of what to do about it.

 

Since we really wanted to continue our good relationship with everyone, we decided to leave the situation in God’s hands. We turned it over to the One who can work in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Temporary things of this life did not matter as much as eternal values of being right with God and others—especially family members.

 

We divided what we could with what remained and felt glad that some items could be a blessing to our children as they approached ages of independence. Since we had fond memories of the home and times with family there, we paid other family members so we could hold on to the property for a while. We knew it could be sold in the future, possibly for a better price. We divided up the remains of the estate, not particularly caring about most of the furnishings. Most of the items would end up blessing a charity organization.

 

All the items soon were distributed to proper places, but the car! Why would it be passed along to another family member without even a discussion about who should inherit it? A small payment was given to us instead. It was hard to ignore this obvious injustice, but we were determined to overlook it and place our trust in God to bring about justice.

 

Personally, I still had a desire to own one large item that had been snatched away. It was a sentimental piece that lingered in the back of my mind and would come to the surface to test me and my conviction to refuse offense and forgive. One day several years later, our relatives decided to move to another state. We received a phone call.

 

“Would you like to have [a large item left by the passing of a parent]?”

 

Well! “YES!”

 

The offending relative continued to explain. “Since we are moving and this antique is bulky, we decided not to take it with us.”

 

So, that’s what brought us a piece of justice. One of God’s mysterious ways had been exposed. We watched as the item was delivered to our home. I knew exactly where to place it. I had the perfect spot for this special antique. It held significance with family history. I had no intention of selling it. It belonged with the family.

 

Within a few more years, many other blessings unfolded almost in succession, one by one. We marveled at the hand of God, simply sending things our way. Our lives were significantly improved. We knew it had not been any lawyer’s success fighting for us in court. It has been the mighty sign that God honored our decision and brought about a justice outside of man’s courtroom. In time, forgiveness brought about repentance in others, a recognition that a wrong needed to be made right. God’s righteousness had prevailed.