Trite and simple solutions to problems are never satisfactory. We have all talked to people whose problems seem to have no end. One thing seems to get piled on top of another. A simple band aid of a few words, or a pat on the back, does no good, and can even seem to be mocking the problem. There are times when God is silent. Circumstances don’t change. Words are inadequate. But if we know anything, if we believe anything about our Lord, it is that He will not abandon us. He will somehow make a way through. Paul wrote to the Roman church that “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him , graciously give us all things?”(8:32) For Jesus on the cross God was silent, but the outcome of that three day trial was an empty tomb and life for the world. Even in our times of silence we hold fast to our God who promised never to leave or forsake us. This is the place of our hope, and we stand together as a body of believers to encourage and support one another in it.