Tobit 7:12-18: a reflection

12Raguel said, “Take her to yourself from now on according to custom. You are her relative, and she is yours. The merciful God will give all good success to you.” 13And he called his daughter Sarah, and took her by the hand, and gave her to be wife of Tobias, and said, “Behold, take her to yourself after the law of Moses, and lead her away to your father.” And he blessed them. 14He called Edna his wife, then took a book, wrote a contract, and sealed it. 15Then they began to eat. 16And Raguel called his wife Edna, and said to her, “Sister, prepare the other chamber, and bring her in there.” 17She did as he asked her, and brought her in there. She wept, and she received the tears of her daughter, and said to her, 18“Be comforted, my child. May the Lord of heaven and earth give you favor for this your sorrow. Be comforted, my daughter.”

On the night of Sarah's marriage to Tobias, her mother Edna gently prepares her, and, seeing her daughter weeping, speaks words of tender comfort. Be comforted, my child, she says; may the Lord of heaven and earth give you favor in place of this your sorrow. Be comforted, my daughter. Sarah, who had suffered much grief, is met by her mother not with impatience but with tenderness, comfort, and a prayer that God would turn her sorrow to favor. It is a small, tender scene of one comforting another in her grief.

Notice the ministry of comfort here. Edna does not scold Sarah's tears or tell her to stop crying; she meets her grief with tenderness, comforting her, weeping with her, praying God's favor over her sorrow. She offers the simple, deep ministry of comforting one who grieves, being present with her in her sorrow and speaking hope over it. Be comforted, my daughter, she says, and prays that God would give favor in place of grief.

That is a ministry we are all called to. There are grieving people all around us, and one of the tenderest things we can offer is Edna's ministry: to comfort them, to be present with them in their sorrow, to speak gentle hope over their grief, to pray God's favor into their pain. We do not always have answers, but we can offer comfort. When you meet someone who grieves, do not scold their tears or rush them past their sorrow. Offer them Edna's ministry: comfort, tender presence, and the prayer that God would give favor in place of their sorrow. Be a comforter to the grieving, and trust that the God of heaven and earth can turn even deep sorrow to favor.

Lord, when Sarah wept, her mother Edna met her not with impatience but with tenderness, comforting her and praying that you would give favor in place of her sorrow. Make me a comforter like that. There are grieving people all around me; help me offer them Edna's ministry: to comfort them, to be present with them in their sorrow, to speak gentle hope over their grief, to pray your favor into their pain. Keep me from scolding tears or rushing others past their sorrow. I do not always have answers, but help me offer comfort and tender presence. And thank you that you, the God of heaven and earth, can turn even deep sorrow to favor. Make me a comforter to the grieving, and turn their sorrow, in time, to favor and joy.