Faith in the face of tragedy

It has been difficult to even read about the tragedy at the Amish school in Pennsylvania. I saw this quote from Sam Stolzfus, a 63-year-old Amish woodworker:

We think it was God's plan and we're going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going. A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors.

That last sentence reminded me of Isaiah 57:1, which says:

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. (KJV)