The Lord often gives shepherds a supernatural love for the sheep He has entrusted into their care. We see this in the apostle Paul who refers to his beloved brothers and sisters as his “crown” and “joy.” (Phil. 4:1) (1 Thess. 2:19) We see his heart for the sheep repeatedly in the epistles. He always gives thanks for them as he labors for them in prayer and longs for their presence. (Rom. 1:8-10) (1 Cor. 1:4) (Eph. 1:16) (Phil. 1:3-4) (Col. 1:3) (1 Thess. 1:2-3) (2 Tim. 1:3) I’ve seen this in my own heart. There’s times that words fail me as my heart hurts for those that are suffering.
As the Lord stirs our affections for his people, we will inevitably endure great heartache as we do life with them. Sometimes, we don’t have words. There are those times when one of our beloved loses a child, spouse, parent, or close friend. There are times when a diagnosis is made and assuredly premature death is right around the corner for them. What do we say in those moments? I’ve learned this year that words are not always necessary — at least not right away. Sometimes we just sit and cry alongside them. We show them our love for them as we enter into their suffering as if it were our own.
So, maybe in those times we don’t need to feel as if we must say anything at all. Instead, maybe we just cry with them. We follow the example of our beloved savior who wept with Mary & Martha at the tomb of their brother. (Jn. 11:33-35) In so doing we open wide our hearts to them that they may see we have made room for them inside. (2 Cor. 6:11, 7:3) Then, if words continue to allude us, we point them beyond our own inadequacy to the one who is fully adequate to comfort their hurting souls — the sympathetic high priest who lives and makes intercession for his people. When words fail us, we sit, we cry, we pray, we point onward to Jesus.