When Tragedy Strikes and Your Heart is Overwhelmed

My heart seemed to be in a constant state of heaviness and ache last month. June displayed the depravity of man and the fallen world in all aspects. Disease and death and destruction affect nations, communities, families, and individuals. Tragedy continues to strike around the globe. Intense hardships and trials invade our homes. Shootings, terrorist attacks, poverty, political craziness, cancer, pain, addictions, assaults of every kind run rampant. 

And my mind cannot turn it all off. My heart cannot handle it all. Between the tragedies themselves and the endless noise of the news and opinions of everyone on social media, my mind constantly tries to sort through the noise and my heart constantly grieves. Part of it is how I process things and part of it is my introvertedness. Sleep evades me, sometimes due to pregnancy and sometimes due to my mind racing. I have learned I am someone who feels things deeply. And I am often overwhelmed by the weight of it all. 

But last month reminded me of the necessity of being in the Word. I cannot handle the weight of all the tragedies apart from the weight of the truth of the Word. 

When my mind races and my heart aches, the only remedy is fixing my gaze on Jesus and diving hard into the Word. And when I don't even know what to read, I'm learning to open up the Psalms and just start. And when my heart is so overwhelmed where I don't even know what to pray, I'm learning to open up the Psalms and let those be my prayers.

The Psalms reveal I can pour my heart out to the Lord and He hears. The Psalms fill me with the truths and promises of who He is. When tragic news comes, I need the Psalms. I need the Psalms to direct my heart and my mind to the One who is eternal and unchanging, good and faithful, steadfastly loving and rich in mercy.

In a world of sickness and heartbreaking diagnoses, I need the reminder He is the ultimate healer. 

In a world of shootings and terrorist attacks, I need the reminder He is always in control. 

In a world of assaults and injustice, I need the reminder He is near and He is just.

In a world of political chaos and corruption, I need the reminder He is enthroned.

In a world of poverty and war, I need the reminder He is all-sufficient and He is all-powerful.

In a world of overwhelming heartache, I need the reminder He sees and He knows and He cares.

The Psalms provide those reminders in a very real and raw and powerful way. His Word cannot be forgotten or dismissed in times of chaos and pain, confusion and heartache. 

I can give Him my overwhelmed mind and His Word will bring peace..

I can lay down my anxious heart and His Word will bring rest.

I can show Him my tears and my questions and His Word will bring comfort and hope.

Nothing else, no one else, offers the peace and rest, comfort and hope that Jesus does. And the Word gives Him to us. I know tragedy will continue to come. This side of glory will continue to be filled with the evil one and sin. But the Word reminds me of love, of hope, of miracles, of joy, of kindness, of grace, of all that is good and all that is of God. It reveals truth. And that truth, the truth, Truth Himself, is worth clinging to and worth trusting in. 

May we begin to go to the Word, may we go to Him, when our hearts are overwhelmed, pain cuts deep, and questions abound. It is there, with Him, refreshment, healing, and hope can be found.