One Friday morning in March, my friend Sarah taught me what friendship should be.
The dour weather matched my mood and state of mind. The night before, I had faced the horror of being ganged up on by a group of men who wanted my phone and bag—and made sure they got them even if it meant knocking my nose out of place.
So, on Friday morning, I was in bed, nursing a broken nose and heart, wanting to be alone yet grateful for the presence of my friend, Sarah. She sat with me silently, held me while I cried, hushed my blasphemous complaints, took me out to get ice cream and shawarma, downloaded a comedy Kdrama series, and watched it with me. It took me a couple of months to fully recover mentally from the ordeal, but what my friend did for me that day profoundly struck my heart.
Job’s friends understood the importance of grieving with a loved one, showing solidarity with a fellow friend, and going through rough patches with one another. They heard of his great loss, came from where they lived to see him, sat with him, and offered him whatever comfort they could.
Being around grieving people is challenging, even if they’re friends. No one wants a gloomy sidekick. But perhaps we could be an extension of God’s comfort to them when we sit with them in their silence and confusion and assure them of our love and support.
We may avoid friends who are in pain because it makes us uncomfortable or because we feel we will never understand how they feel and, therefore, can’t comfort them.
But if Job’s friends sat in silence with their friend for a week, we could call a friend and drive a couple of blocks to spend an afternoon drinking coffee or eating ice cream. Think of ways you can warm a friend’s frigid heart with your warm one.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Annie Spratt.)
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Oluwatoyin Uzoma is an academic administrator, disciple, and student of God’s Word. She is a leader and teacher at Grace Christian Community, her local church, and desires to express through writing the life lessons she has learned as a Christian of over eight years. She sings and loves to teach others. She lives with her family at Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.