It seems that lately bad news is all around us: friends affected with cancer; loved ones caught in addiction; friends losing family without rhyme or reason. It is in those times we want to share words of comfort and wisdom, but no words come. While it makes us feel helpless and inadequate, sometimes the best comfort comes from silence.
Job experienced this when his so-called 'friends' came to 'sympathize and comfort' him (Job 2:11). While they were saying the things they felt needed to be said, it would have been better if they had remained silent. Instead of offering comfort, they unintentionally blamed Job for his own misfortunes by accusing him of some secret sin. Job had lost his children; his wealth; and his health. Now he had to sit and listen to his 'friends' tearing him apart.
“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas” (Job 6:2-3). Sometimes our grief is so crippling, all we can do is take one heartbeat at a time. We are not comforted; we can't be comforted. Then there are those times when our hearts ache within us to see all the pain and sickness facing our friends and family. Many times we long to take away the pain we see in other's faces, but we can't.
We can, however, pray; even when we don't know exactly for what to pray. Many times prayers just spring from the pain we see … a deep groaning within us spoken in only a language God understands. And while we long to offer wisdom or enduring words of comfort, it is better to remain silent. Sometimes it is best to simply be there to offer a hug and a shoulder to cry on. When the grief is so burdensome and there are no words to express such pain, silence shares much.