We cry with the NHS doctors, nurses and all frontline staff. We cry with those suffering pain and loss. We cry with the nation as it goes through this hard winter of difficulty.
We cry out to God – bringing our pain to Him.
At Countess Free Church we have no easy answers. We stand with those who are suffering and finding themselves in a hard place. We trust God for a way through, and look to Him for comfort – and pray for that comfort for any who are hurting.
As a church family we have long held a practice of bringing the ordinary things of the week before God and to each other as part of our worship together. In these times we have always included the difficult as well as the good and the joys. This practice has enabled us to bring our whole lives before God in worship, and recognises that God is with us even in the troubles. Our faith doesn’t only make sense as long as things are going well – it carries us through when life is just ‘plain hard’.
So to all those who are hurting, to those working weary shifts with all reserves now depleted: we cry with you and we cry for you … to God who we know to understand suffering and hardship because of what we see in Jesus. We can look to Him because H walked this earth, facing its harsh realities. We look to Jesus who went even to death … but now stands showing us that death is not the final word.