Well, why would God design a baby to live for just two minutes? That's not a hypothetical question, even for some of you listening right now to the podcast. And it was certainly no hypothetical question when it was asked in a 1994 article published in Christianity Today, written by a grieving dad named Marshall Shelley.

Marshall had lost two children to genetic defects. He and his wife, Susan, lost a daughter just shy of her second birthday, and they lost a son who lived for just two minutes. Their children passed away within three months of one another. Their son, born with the rare genetic disorder called trisomy 13, lived for only seconds, as was medically expected.

The doctor cut the cord and gently placed him on Susan's chest, Marshall recounted. He was a healthy pink, and we saw his chest rise and fall, the breath of life. Thank you, God. And then almost immediately, he began to turn blue. We stroked his face and whispered words of welcome, of love, of farewell.

And all too soon, the doctor told us he was gone. Dr. Marshall reflected on the experience and wrote this, "I was with my son his entire life, two minutes. He entered the world of light and air at 8.20pm on November 22, 1991, and he departed," the doctor said, "at 8.22.

It seemed a very short time, too short. My wife Susan and I never got to see him take his first steps. We barely got to see him take his first breath. I don't know if he would have enjoyed softball or software, dinosaurs or dragonflies. We never got to wrestle, race, or read.

Would he have enjoyed those things like his older sisters do? What would have made him laugh, made him scared, made him angry? Those questions swarmed around my soul in the days following my son's arrival and hurried departure. So many things I wondered. But one question loomed larger than all the rest, haunting me for months.

Why would God create a child to live two minutes? This question is very pointed. Following the season of pain after the loss of two children, Marshall Shelley attended his high school class reunion and he was asked to stand up and share what he had learned about life. The story got back to Pastor John, who recounted it in a 1995 seminar on God's providence.

Here he is. He said that he was at this meeting and one of his classmates is Marshall Shelley. Marshall Shelley is now one of the vice presidents for Christianity Today, an overseas leadership magazine and partnership magazine, and Christianity Today, and the new one that they're putting out now, Books and Culture, and his big wig down there.

And Marshall has suffered a lot. He had a child born who was profoundly disabled and lived two years and died. And then he had a child that lived two minutes and died. Same as some of the people in this church. And he was standing up. They just asked him, "Stand up and tell us a word, Marshall." And they didn't know what they were going to get.

And Kerry said, "It was the most profound moment at a reunion you've ever been to." Noelle's told me some profound moments at reunions that she's had. It's funny that these things that go on in people when they go to 20 and 25 and 30 year reunions and they're asked to just say something about life.

So different than when you were 18, you know? But what he said was, "Life is hard. God is good." Life is hard. God is good. And then he told the story of this little two minute baby. And I read the article about three years ago and it just came back like a thing.

I said, "I've got to get this article for some families in our church." Because I remember he was wrestling with, "Why would God design a baby to live for two minutes?" You see, Shelly, Marshall Shelly didn't even ask the question whether God did it. Marshall is just so saturated with the sovereignty of God, he asked the next question.

"Why would God design a baby to live for two minutes?" And the answer he gave was, "He didn't." He designed him to live forever. And two minutes is not that much different from 70 years when you consider forever. Now think on that. Just think on that. We don't believe in eternity most of the time when we're murmuring about why we lose this or that.

Two seconds is not much different. I mean, picture the width of this building as eternity. This right here is 70 years and this is two seconds. Just think on it. God didn't create that baby to live for two seconds. Well that's one answer and there are others. There are others.

This life, folks, is not the main thing. This is not the main thing. This is preparation, testing ground, laying up. What did Jesus say? "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." He talked like you've got a few years to invest. Invest right because then you spend. And we've got a totally different mindset.

We've got 70 years to spend and then it's over. We really need to listen to Marshall. We need to listen to people like that. Well, let me pray. Oh, Father in heaven, I know, I know that when I say this, there's some incredibly raw nerves that could hear it and feel it and it's very painful.

But Lord, I pray that in all tenderness and in all meekness and with all hugging and all caring, we might believe the biblical view of life. I pray that those suffering most among us would become our best teachers as many of them have. And I pray that you would sanctify to us our deepest distress and make us ask Marshall's question even if we can't answer it, rather than asking an atheistic question.

Help us to ask his question. Why would God design my baby to live for two minutes? Why would God design my baby to live for two years? And then look for biblical answers and live with them in peace. Oh, Lord God, we want to be a biblical people. We'll be a loving people.

We'll be a strong people. And we want to commend the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of everybody that we meet. Help us up right now in Jesus name. Amen. That's a great answer to the question and very motivating for me to not waste my short life too.

The clip was taken from a seminar titled "The Providence of God." This was session three. It was delivered on October 11th, 1995. It's worth a listen and it's online right now at DesiringGod.org. Marshall Shelley's article was published under the title "Two Minutes to Eternity in Christianity." Today is May 16, 1994 issue.

Thank you for listening to today's sermon clip. If you have one of your own, send it to me. Give me your name, your location, the sermon title, the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio and tell me how it impacted you. Put the word clip in the subject line of an email and send it to me at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org.

That's an email address, AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. Well, in the past, we have talked about jealousy in dating relationships. That was the main theme back in episode 1177. But we've not really talked about codependency in dating. It's a common dilemma for dating couples. And the question is up next time when we return.

I'm your host Tony Reinke, and we're rejoined in studio with Pastor John on Friday. We'll see you then.