In the midst of suffering

We come to you, God.  We take a moment to raise our voices, our hearts...to you. We say, we know you love us, we know you are there. We hear the words of scripture and your promises to our ancestors and to us that say you will be with us always, that you will protect and defend and rescue us from evil.

And yet God each one of us can cry out individually and together: Why? Why God is there so much suffering, so much hurt, so much sadness and destruction in this world and in our relationships and in our lives?

Our hearts break. We are tired and weary. We do not know why things are the way they are.

So, God, we come to you. We hand over our broken hearts, we rest and take refuge in your arms. We remember the words of your Son, who came before us, who led the way...who suffered and was tortured and died…who was risen, who then defeated death so that we do not have to be afraid anymore. We remember Your Son…who has indeed gone to prepare a place for us.

God we are so grateful for that hope…for the fact that this place of suffering is not the end of the story. And we thank you for all that we have...for your love that sustains us through it all…for the opportunity to ask and challenge and still to know that you are there.

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, who was and is and always will be even in the midst of suffering and questioning.

Amen.