A Word from the Vine No. 553: The Friends Who Just Sit There

Well hello there, friends. This is A Word from the Vine, and I'm Pastor Loren Christensen, coming to you from the Danish Countryside Chapel here in Exira.

I want to tell you about Job's friends — and for once, I mean that as a compliment.

Everybody remembers Job's friends for all the wrong advice they gave later on. But before any of that, Scripture tells us this:

"They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." — Job 2:13

Seven days. No advice. No Bible verses tossed out to fix it. Just presence.

Since losing Keli, I've had folks show up at my door with a casserole and absolutely nothing to say — and friends, that has meant more to me than any sermon anyone could have preached at me. Some of the best comfort I've received this spring came from people who simply sat with me in the not-knowing-what-to-say.

If someone you love is grieving, you don't need the perfect words. You need to just show up, and stay a while, and let the silence be enough.

And if you're the one grieving — let people sit with you. Don't feel like you owe anybody a brave face.

This is Pastor Loren. Thanks for listening to A Word from the Vine. And remember — the Gospel isn't just something we believe. It's something we live, even in the quiet.