Daily Worship

How sad can the journey be?

December 28, 2013 0 0

Matthew 2

18 ‘A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.’

Lord God, it is hard to come to terms with the way in which some people have to suffer. Whatever the scale: suffering in our private life or cruelty and evil which shocks us in our public life – we wonder why?

So we pray for those whose journey through this life is not just sad but is also deeply painful:

for mothers who still weep for their children  

for families bewildered by the circumstances that have displaced them from their homes

            for communities that are not able to live in peace

But we remember that the child, who was born in Bethlehem, was born for Rachel and all whose eyes are stained with tears. That the child grew to be the one who took our pain on his shoulders and is the one who has promised that one day he will wipe away all tears from our eyes.

So, while we may not understand the pain and suffering which are so much a part of this complex life, comfort us with the knowledge that your grace and goodness are sufficient to hold us up even when we fall and to comfort even when we are inconsolable.

This we ask in Jesus name. Amen

 

By John Chalmers