When ministering to people in crisis, meet them where they are at spiritually and emotionally. If they are expressing honest faith, reflect honest faith back to them. If they are raging, pouring out their hurt and anger, absorb it without rebuke. Don’t censor them. And don’t try to explain why this terrible tragedy has happened to them. Listen with love. Weep with them. Remember, it is all right to say you don’t know. Life is filled with mystery and you don’t have to have all the answers. I call this type of ministry “soul care” and the healing it provides is gradual.
“… we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”
–2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NIV 1984)
Lord Jesus, help me to be loving, patient, and kind to the hurting people in my world. In Your holy name I pray. Amen.