My friend sniffs, pausing in the middle of her story to get a tissue from her purse.
I wait beside her in the coffee shop.
Mute. Helpless.
Watching huge tears travel down her cheeks like raindrops rolling down a window pane.
She wipes her trail of tears, and I wonder…
Isn’t there a Bible verse about collecting tears in a bottle?
I swallow the knot in my throat. Blink back my own tears.
What can I say to encourage her?
- Offer to pray with her?
- Quote a Bible verse?
- Assure her everything will be alright.
When honestly, I don’t know how things will turn out.
I touch her arm, but hold my tongue. Fearful of being like Job’s friends. Full of platitudes.
Can she feel my empathy? My longing to make things better?
Perhaps it’s enough I’m here to listen.
My friend eventually changes the subject. Mood lightens. Similar to shifting gears on a bicycle after you’ve pedaled on rough terrain and the landscape flattens out.
We hug; agree to pray for one another. Then go our separate ways.
Nothing changed. Nothing solved.
But just the act of sharing—the good, bad, and ugly—lifts our burdens. If only for the moment.
Spirits strengthened. Eyes fixed again on Jesus. We advance into the night….
Trusting a Sovereign God.
Thankful we’re not alone, even if our friends haven’t walked in our shoes or can fully comprehend the pain.
Consider the Virgin Mary who conceived a son and then went in a hurry to visit Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary, she “cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42).
Surely those words were exactly what Mary needed to hear.
Years later, when Jesus was dying on a cross, He saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby.
“He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’
“Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’
“From that hour the disciple took her into his own household” (John 19:26, 27).
Mary didn’t have to grieve alone.
Mary Magdalene among others was also there beside her.
Isn’t that what friends are for?
Loving the people God places in our lives.
Especially for such a time as this…..
Even In This 