Why do babies die?

Answer

Experiencing the death of a child is one of life’s deepest sorrows. There are various ways to lose a child, such as custody battles, waywardness, or miscarriage, but the passing of an infant evokes a unique kind of grief over a life that was never fully lived. Only parents who have endured such a loss truly grasp its profound impact. Nevertheless, grandparents, siblings, and friends also grapple with their own sorrow. From this grief arises the question: Why? Along with this question, there is often an underlying anger towards God for permitting the child’s demise. For those struggling to come to terms with a baby’s passing, please refer to our article “How Should Parents Cope with the Death of a Child?”

Frequently, the initial response to unbearable loss is to question “why.” However, when we pose this “why” in circumstances beyond our control, it often signifies something deeper. What we genuinely seek to understand is whether God still maintains control over a world that allows such pain. Is He disciplining us? Is He displeased with us? Have we committed some act deserving of such grief? Beneath all the inquiries lies the desire to comprehend if this child’s death serves any meaningful purpose.

When a baby passes away, we witness only unfulfilled potential. We envision celebrations we will never experience, milestones we will never witness, and affectionate moments we will never share. The loss appears senseless, and the perception of pointless suffering can ignite anger, sadness, bewilderment, refusal, and other adverse reactions. However, once the initial waves of grief subside, we may be prepared to pose the fundamental question: God, does the demise of this child and the accompanying anguish hold any redemptive significance?

Psalm 131 is a comforting passage when life overwhelms us with burdens too heavy to bear, like a miscarriage or the death of an infant:

“My heart is not proud, Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

But I have calmed and quieted myself,

I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.”

Theologically, we can say that the reason anyone dies—babies included—is that we live in a fallen, broken world that bears the effects of sin: “Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” «Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: », (Romans 5:12, NLT). The death of a baby doesn’t sit well with us, and it shouldn’t—it’s not how God originally planned life to be.

Birth defects, chromosomal abnormalities, and deformities—all factors in miscarriage and infant death—are results of death’s reign over human life. At times, God may take an infant whose earthly life would be filled with agony. As painful as it is, sometimes the death of a baby is mercy. We can know that, however long the child’s life, he or she fulfilled God’s purpose on earth, so God saw it fit to take the child home.

We can make general statements about sin and death and deformity, but we can’t ultimately know why babies die because we are not God. We don’t have the ability to see into the past and future as God can. We don’t know the purpose behind many things God does or allows, but we find comfort in running to Him like a little child and resting in His superior wisdom. He tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways «For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. », (Isaiah 55:9). And we are glad about that. His insight is not limited by our finite minds. His experience is not confined to a mere 60—70 years on one planet. He is tThe One who created the planet and the humans who inhabit it, and He knows far more than we do about how life works “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” saith the Lord, “which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”, (Revelation 1:8). He is not indifferent to our sorrows, but He sees the rest of the story.

God is a Father, and He invites us to understand Him as we understand a parent-child relationship. A good parent sometimes allows a child to experience painful events for the long-term good of that child. Likewise, God allows painful events in our lives for the long-term good. A child may grieve over moving to a new city, the death of a pet, or rejection by classmates. Wise parents don’t offer to change those things but work toward a new perspective, comforting and reassuring the child that it will be all right. God does the same with us. He rarely answers our “why” questions but does reassure us that He is still in control and that it will be all right (Isaiah 46:9-11;Psalm 147:3). He also promises that our pain is not wasted if we will entrust it to Him and seek His purpose in it “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”, (Romans 8:28).

God created that child and loves that child. We can trust the Creator to deal gently with His human creation and welcome babies into His presence (Matthew 18:5-6;2 Samuel 12:23). And even though we grieve, joy comes in the morning “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”, (Psalm 30:5).www.bibliatodo.com/en/bible/king-james-version/psalm-30-5″>(Psalm 30:5). Regardless of the way the child left us, we have the promise that all who belong to Jesus will be reunited forever in heaven with Him. Someday, sorrow will be gone, and death will be destroyed forever (2 Timothy 1:9-10; Revelation 20:14).