A Response to the Charlie Kirk Assassination and All the Evil We See in the World
Our Fallen World
Our fallen world can be so awful. Everything is fractured. Everything is marred by sin and evil. Even our most joyous moments will not compare to the true joy we will experience in the presence of Jesus.
I know when tragedy strikes, sometimes it raises questions like “Where was God?” or “How could He let this happen?” It is okay to sit in the confusing grief. We are not the only ones. I think about the psalmists often:
“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1)
“O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless;
and they say, ‘The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.’” (Psalm 94:3–7)
God’s Love and Protection
I have been learning more and more that my understanding of God’s love and protection often looks different than His.
God always protects His children, but that does not mean His children will escape physical pain or death on earth. Sometimes He chooses to protect or heal on earth, but He always protects and keeps His child’s soul. Our soul is eternal; our body is not.
Look to Jesus as the primary example. The Father allowed His Son to go through the most unimaginable torture and death, and yet we know the Father loved Him.
Or I think of the disciples. They dedicated their lives to spreading the saving truth of Jesus, and yet many were also tortured and killed for reasons that are unjust.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
Our earthly life is such a gift, but our heavenly one is the true gift because we get to be with Him, the lover, protector, and maker of our soul.
Grieving with Jesus
In the meantime, ladies, if you feel grief today, allow yourself to grieve. It is good and right to grieve the ugliness of sin. We have a Savior who is “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).
He enters our pain with us and grieves, like He did when Mary and Martha lost their brother Lazarus. And just like Lazarus, who was raised from death, Charlie is now more alive than ever before.
Tragedy is hard because we know that this evil is not supposed to happen. This is not the world that was originally created. God made something very different before sin and death entered. But He is not leaving it this way. He is slowly redeeming all things to Himself. And we must trust Him, even when our eyes can only see devastation.
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:17–18)
Trusting God’s Sovereign Plan
We must trust His sovereign, good plans.
“In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10)
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
We must run to Him every moment of every day for all the days of our lives. He is the only true refuge we have.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
(Psalm 46:1)
“I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:2)
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”(Nahum 1:7)
Hope and Justice
So as we sit in grief, sadness, anger, and everything in between, remember that we have a just God who says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19)
We can entrust this evil to Him, and wait for the reality of when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)
