Corona Devo 690

I got off the phone with a family member the other day and closed my eyes.  My mind darted in and out of prayer as I let the reality of his situation settle over me.  He's dying.  

He knows it, and I do too.  

Our 15-year old son walked in on my closed-eye/somber state.  He came over slowly and asked what was wrong.  I told him what I knew, and he grasped my hands and sat down next to me.  

And sat.

It's rare for a teen to be still.

It's even more rare for a teen to be quiet.  

But God knew what I needed: Companionship without conversation.  Presence without inquiry.  Support in silence.  Not a solution, a fix or advice.  At that moment I was ever-so-grateful to have someone just sitting there with me.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

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I have a friend who is going through something.  The details of exactly "what" don't matter, because we all go through things.  Seasons of struggle.  Times of trial.  Periods where we strain to hear God's voice, but it feels muffled and far away.

There's not much to say to someone standing alone in that tundra-time of life.  And we shouldn't.  Silence is golden sometimes, and as my friend shared her heart, I knew that my silence, partnered with my presence, was the greatest gift I could give her right now.  

Job's friends knew that too.

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.  ~Job 2:13

Job was a guy in the Bible who went through difficult loss, difficult emotional, physical and spiritual trials, and much hardship.  There is a reason why we may have heard the saying, "the patience of Job".  And, as evidenced in this verse, during some of his trials, he had friends that came and just sat in silence with him.

The presence of someone (without words) is just what we need sometimes.

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Like this morning when I pulled a book off our bookshelf to read to my daughter.  It was a picture book about moms and daughters that I had jotted notes in and given as a gift to my mom ten years ago.  She's gone now, but for some reason I thought it would be fun to share the book and thoughts with my daughter today.  However, in mid-sentence on the second page, tears rolled out of my eyes and I lost composure.  My daughter did too.  We embraced in a silent hug remembering Mom and Gramma. 

No words necessary.

We didn't need words, we didn't explanations, we just needed each other, the silent embrace, the unspoken understanding of sorrow and the permission to feel it...together

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  ~Galatians 6:2

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  ~2 Corinthians 1:5

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Sometimes the most blatant statement we can make in love to another is spoken through our silence and in just being there for them, and with them as they walk through the valley they are in.  

God puts people in our path to shoulder our burdens with us, but He is also our ever-present silent partner.  

...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  ~Matthew 28:20

And even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) or doubt, or fear, or anything, we can know that God walks through that valley with us, and that He is drawing us ever-nigh, with the purpose of filling us with more of Him.  

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  ~Deuteronomy 8:3

We can look to God and the Bible (every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord), as our "manna" and sometimes we are "fed" and "satisfied" by the mere presence and silence of others who come and "sit with us" in our suffering.

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Does someone need us to sit silently with them today?

Please do.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

And if we need a quiet hug or someone to grasp our hands (and heart) in tender silence today, may God provide that person.  

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  ~2 Corinthians 1:5

Because sometimes silence is golden, silence is strength, and silence is all we need.

No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.  ~Job 2:13

Blessings, 

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com