What Do I Say?

I recently saw a Facebook post from a friend of mine that read as follows:

“My best friend died this week, my heart is broken, I feel alone . . . I miss my friend with all my heart.” 

Wow.  How does someone respond accordingly to such raw emotion on a social networking site?  Does it even need a response or is the poster simply venting?  Ultimately, the posting received 139 return comments.  I started to read through these comments, and while they conveyed the appropriate condolences and sympathy that you’d expect, none of them really hit on a solution to the grief and sorrow and confusion that was raining down on that young man’s life at that very moment.  After thinking about it long and hard, I decided that sometimes just a few words are best to get to the heart of the situation.  I posted three short words that I hope to remember again anytime a tragedy arises where the spoken word fails to capture anything worth verbalizing.

“God is near.”

Remember that uncomfortable feeling that often accompanies reading a familiar obituary, or waiting in line at a funeral home or church to empathize with the grieving family?   We want to find the right words that will erase the terrible feelings and emotions that are dominating the moment.  We want to be a hero who can put death and suffering into the proper perspective so the burdens of the world can be that much lighter.  But the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gave us all the hope and truth we need to face these troubled times.  We don’t have to play the hero.  Jesus has already filled that role as our Savior and Redeemer and he proved that God loves us so much that he lived among us, suffered with us, and defeated death and sin for you and I and all His children.  His promise and His proximity is all the comfort we need whether the days are exceptionally bright or increasingly dark.  You and I can’t change that and we can’t improve on it.  But we can remind each other because these are three words that will never grow stale, will never fail to open doors for healing, and will mean that we are never alone or friendless.