Blake Bivens, a pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, is leaning on God amid his grief in the wake of his family’s passing. Instead of questioning God for their deaths, he continued to exalt God and thanked God for his wonderful family. He also held to the hope that he will reunite with his family in heaven one day.
Bivens lost his wife Emily, their baby boy Cullen and his mother-in-law Joan in a tragic homicide in Virginia in the hands of his brother-in-law. He was on the road when he learned about their deaths. Two days after the tragedy, he poured out his emotions and also praised God.
“My heart was turned to ash. My life as I knew it is destroyed. The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words. I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them,” he said of the tragedy on Instagram.
Despite the tragedy, Bivens never wavered in his faith in God and belief that everything happens for a reason. He believes that now Emily, Cullen, and Joan are in Heaven. He never forgot to thank those who shared their words of comfort and even thanked God for blessing him with “the most wonderful family in the world” and thanked God for letting him love Emily and Cullen. Biven also put his future in the hands of God
“I’m not sure what is next for me, but I do know God has a plan even though I can’t see it,” he said.
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Now, a month after his family’s death, Biven continues to thank God for the outpouring of love and support and for keeping him strong. Every time he is reminded of his family’s death, he is reminded of what Paul said in Thessalonians 4:13-14 about Jesus’ death and resurrection. He keeps the passage close to his heart as a promise that he will reunite with his family in Heaven.
“For me this is not the end but only a brief interruption. One day soon we will have a magnificent reunion and all of us will be with the Lord forever. Until then I will press on to the ultimate goal of spending eternity in Heaven,” Biven wrote along photos of Emily and Cullen.
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Death is never certain and sometimes in the midst of the mourning, we tend to blame God and question him for taking our loved ones away from us. Our judgment becomes clouded by our emotions. It is rare to witness anyone going through grief still finds God in the darkness. It takes strong faith and one which Bivens has.