Saturday night I read on Twitter that Brittany Maynard had followed through with plans to end her life, by her own choice. She chose to do this instead of going through the pain and suffering she had been told would happen as her cancer progressed. In her words “when the time is right” she would end her life. She felt it was more important to die with dignity, and did not seem to feel the action she was taking would be suicide.

I cannot judge the choice she has made since I have not walked in her shoes. I have seen what cancer does to people and it is a horrible, terrible and painful disease, all of which increases if the disease cannot be brought into remission. Other life-ending diseases also bring pain and suffering to their victims, and unless one has been there, one cannot comprehend what the person is going through.

However, even with this horrible disease taking over her brain, there was one thing I noticed that was even sadder. Unless I missed the words in her interviews or posts on social media, neither faith nor God was ever mentioned. Now this could have been left out of the interviews.

While I did feel so sorry for this young women, who with her life ahead of her was stricken with not only cancer, but one that had few treatment options, my first thoughts were still about what was going to happen when her life ended by her own hand or by the cancer.

While I cannot imagine having to deal with her situation I also cannot imagine anyone dealing with that type of news, and not having faith in our God to look to for strength, comfort and healing. Regardless of how close we are to our family and friends, I would think this is one journey that one would live and struggle with inside their soul and mind, and only God can provide the comfort and strength to deal with it.

I firmly believe that there is not a situation that God cannot make better and also use for His glory. While the answer to our prayers for healing for ourselves or our loved ones may not be seen in this life, it is most definitely fulfilled in the next.

I do hope that Brittany found salvation before she swallowed those pills and ended her life. While 29 years is a short time, it is only a grain of sand compared to where one will spend eternity. Perhaps one lesson that could be gleaned from Brittany’s story, no matter how young and healthy one seems to be, you never know what is looming in the near future.

Randy Garrison is the president and publisher of the Hartselle Enquirer.