God shares our troubles

Then he [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:34-37

The Gospel of Jesus Christ lives in the world. It lives where Jesus lived -- in the homes of God's people, in the marketplace, on hillsides. It lives where suffering happens, and, to the great dismay of the disciple Simon Peter and many who came after him, the Gospel that drew Jesus into "great suffering" compels us to embrace the same.

The Gospel hears the aching of the human heart and responds compassionately to it. The Body of Christ isn't a sanctuary where the troubled come to cheer up. It is where we learn that God shares our troubles. God enters into our "tumult," God looks deeply into our weary eyes and loves us beyond any imagining.

This is a stressful time for many. Some of us try to escape the stress by watching "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars": on television. Sometimes we just want to get away from it all. Others turn to God for strength, courage, steadfastness and peace. As Christians, we realize that we must bring ourselves into God's presence and ask God to walk life's journey with us.

This isn't a time for meaningless pageantry. This is a time to lay our lives before the God who also has suffered.

For our own special concerns, for those things that weigh upon our hearts…Lord, hear our prayers. Amen. Charlotte Austin McCary's Chapel United Methodist Church