Some days, sadness just shows up.
It doesn’t knock.
It doesn’t announce itself.
It just walks through the door, uninvited and unexplained.
Today is one of those days.
I woke up and felt the weight before I even knew what time it was. Not a crushing weight. Just heavy enough to slow my steps and soften my voice. I can’t tell you why. Nothing happened. No great sorrow crashed through my morning. No tragic news arrived. Just a melancholy ache hanging in the air like misty fog.
And so I sit with it.
Experience has taught me not to rush past these moments—I used to try. There was a time when I drowned them in busyness, smothered them with cheerfulness, or pretended they weren’t real. Fake it ‘til you make it. Ugh. Sigh. Shrug. But I’ve walked with the Lord long enough to know that even unexplained sadness has something to say.
It doesn’t mean I’m broken.
It doesn’t mean I’m weak.
It means I’m human.
Maybe you’ve felt this, too. The quiet kind of sadness that isn’t loud or dramatic. It doesn’t demand attention. It just is. And maybe, like me, you’ve asked yourself, What’s wrong with me today? But I’m beginning to think that asking “what’s wrong” might not always be the best question.
What if the better question is: What is God whispering to me in this silence?
Because the truth is, I don’t need a reason to be sad in order to let God meet me in it. He’s not waiting for an explanation before He draws near. Scripture tells us He is “close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18).
I believe the Lord is close to the aching too.
I am not trying to escape the sadness. I’m offering it back to God.
Here I am, Lord. I don’t know why I feel like this. But I know You’re with me. That’s enough for now. It will have to do.
Maybe tomorrow will feel lighter. Perhaps the fog will lift. But even if it doesn’t, I know I’m not walking alone.
If today feels heavy for you too, for no reason you can name, know that you’re seen. You’re loved. You’re not alone in your sadness, even if no one else sees it. God does.
Until my next post…
Be salty, stay lit.
Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™
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The Devotional Guy™ 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights on this topic. Yes, sadness is something we need, just like we need tired. Or bodies need time to rest and recover. So do our souls. And we don’t have to know why we are sad necessarily—our reason for lament might be multifaceted and beyond or line of sight. The weight of the world feels heavy at times. I am grateful for your comments!
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Amen, Nathan. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and observations. There is indeed something sacred about sitting with our sadness and not running from it. And to your point, we aren’t walking it alone. Peace and grace.
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I think that seems right not to rush or hide the sadness Rainer. I don’t want to say we need sadness because that’s not what I mean but there is a sense that we are often not permitted nowadays to be able to be sad and lamenting is something we’ve lost the ability to do and there is something in lamenting that’s necessary perhaps even healing and restorative. My friend has been through some very difficult and distressing times and when we prayed together the word that came was she needed to lament. It was ok to be sad and feel as she did. She’s on a journey and that was part of it.
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Rainer, this was beautifully said. There’s something sacred about sitting with the kind of sadness that doesn’t need a reason—just an honest offering to the Lord. Your words reminded me that God often meets us not in the explanations, but in the quiet companionship. Like the fog in the morning, the weight may linger, but so does His presence. Thank you for making space for that.
David, I also loved what you shared—“draw some refreshing water from God’s well.” That image stuck with me. Romans 15:13 is now a verse I’ll return to in moments of melancholy—it doesn’t demand that we feel different; it simply reminds us where our peace and joy come from.
Grateful for both of you, brothers. This thread reminded me that even when the heaviness settles in, we are never walking it alone. The well is deep, and the Lord is near.
Be salty, stay lit. 🧂🔥
—Nathan
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Thanks for the Word, David. I appreciate your encouragement and support.
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I have occasional melancholy days, as well, brother. Sometimes the word, “sadness” even comes out of my mouth–talking to myself, of course.☺️ I have a few go-to scriptures for such times. Here’s one of them: “May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (GNT) I’m not implying that a sad day, now and then, means the situation is hopeless. Scriptures, like the one above, simply remind us to draw some refreshing water from God’s well. 🙏❤️ prayers and love, my brother! Or, as you say, “Be salty, stay lit.”🤗
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