PROCESSING TRAGEDY

Will the Lord reject evermore? And will He not be favorable again? Psalm 77:7

 On September 10, 2025 Charlie Kirk was assassinated. In the hours and days that followed believers all over the world experienced a range of emotions, from anger, to disbelief, to fear, to wondering why God allowed it to happen. Maybe you were not impacted by Charlie’s death, but you have experienced a tragedy that has shook you to the core. In those moments, it can seem that God has rejected us; that His grace and mercy have ceased forever. 

That is what Asaph, the writer of Psalm 77 felt. He doesn’t tell us what terrible thing has happened (v. 2), but it was something that was tragic enough that it caused him to wonder if God had forgotten to be gracious (v. 9), or if He was listening anymore. Read Asaph’s heart-wrenching words in verses 7-9. It is important that we tell God what we are thinking and feeling; not in an attacking way, but simply verbalizing what is going on in our thoughts. 

At that point, we then must make the conscious decision to cling to the truth of who God is and what He has promised. You will notice in verse 10, Asaph acknowledges that it is his grief, or his weakness, that caused him to think in that way; which is why he goes on to say (read vv. 11-15). God has not forgotten; He is not asleep. As Asaph reminds us, He is still very much at work, even in the midst of tragedy. Asaph made the conscious decision to meditate on the truth of God; and we must do the same. Will you commit to process tragedy in the way Asaph exemplifies in Psalm 77? 

Joshua Steiner