We hope this page of content communicates to you one thing, one word of wisdom from God’s Word, the Bible, that we pray will be a balm in this moment. It’s this: It’s time to be silent.
If tragedy has just upended your life, you’re reeling. It’s not time for answers, or even for questions. It’s time for tears. You're in pain, you can cry out. This is survival mode. God’s wisdom for the moment is that here is “a time to keep silent”—not for you to keep silent, but for others to keep silent as you cry out in pain.
Your friends and family may not function out of this wisdom, but God’s Spirit in his tenderness has scrawled a banner over this moment of your life to the onlookers that reads, Silence! Not now. May his authoritative Word spoken in the wisdom literature of the Bible be a refuge for you. Perhaps this one truth can be a mast you can cling to in the storm surge.
We’re Not Here to Give You Answers
What you will find in the content below is proof that what we wrote above is true—it’s what God communicates to us for these times in his Word. If you are the one suffering right now, we hope as said above, that this truth brings you peace.
It’s okay to not be okay right now, and we have added some bits of content that aim to act like a friend sitting with you, just being present.
If you are a friend of someone who has just entered serious suffering, we hope this page equips you with the wisdom to care for them sensitively according to the wisdom of God’s Word in this time.
Some of the most comforting words we have ever received in tragedy were from a friend who said: “This is a great wound. You won’t be okay for a long time, and that’s ok. Let the wound breathe, don’t cover it up. I’m so sorry.” Understanding just how pervasively tragedy floods our lives and threatens to drown us, this friend added in tender wisdom, “Remember to shower and brush your teeth.” What reverence for a friend’s pain!
We are wise not to confront pain immediately, but to stand in proper awe with our hand over our mouth and tears running down our face or take our seat beside our friend who stands in its shadow overcome with sorrow, until the time is right.
It’s time to be silent.
