Love Jesus 13

Excerpt from “Trusting God in the Midst of Tragedy.”

There is no easy pill to swallow when assessing why God allows tragic things to happen. I do not understand the details of God’s sovereign plan, but I choose to trust “the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.” (God moves in a Mysterious Way, William Cowper)

Our place is not to know all of God’s purposes but to trust in him, even if we don’t understand. It is tempting to think that if we had all our questions answered it would comfort us. But explanations never comfort, it is trusting in the “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (1 Cor 1:3) that does.

The Psalms are probably one of the most helpful places in the Bible to turn to when processing grief. Psalm 139 in particular has pointed me to three truths about God’s character that have been of immense comfort to me as I move forward, leaning into God.

God knows everything about me and still loves me intimately
The first six verses of Psalm 139 affirm God’s omniscience. God is all knowing.

God intimately knows each and every one of us (Psalm 139:1). He knows our words and our thoughts even before we speak them (Psalm 139:4).

When I go through a wave of grief, my thoughts can get dark. There are things that I would never think about God and life during good times, that I begin to think in my despair. These are thoughts I do not feel comfortable sharing with people.

But with God, he already knows our thoughts. He has searched us and knows us. “Before a word is on our tongue, the LORD knows it completely.” (Psalm 139:4) And so, in our grief, we do not need to hide our thoughts from God.  We can go to the Lord in prayer and just lay our burdens before him.

God gave us the Psalms to teach us how to cry out to him. Most of the Bible speaks to us, but the Psalms speak for us. God wants us to invite him into our grief, not to suppress it.