Your Suffering Is Your Sermon

For years, we've said that our health is a means of praise and that our fitness can be a witness, and it's the truth. But if you look through the gospels, you won't find Jesus with the fit and fiddle. You won't find him around the strong, talking about able muscles, clear lungs or stable legs. And He certainly never wanted us to boast or show any of those things off. Nope. Where do we constantly find our Savior? With the sick. The ill. The needy, hurting, ailing, failing, and wailing. Fitness is a witness - yes - but like Max Lucado says, "Your suffering is your sermon." This week, we'll look back at a few times the Lord allowed me to confess it. And at the same time, I'll ask you to share your life, your pain, your strain and the stories of those you love. Friends, our God is at much at work during our illness as He is during our mountain-top moments. Thing is, we tend to ignore Him the closer we get to the peak. Jimmy Peña

For Discussion: How we handle our pain-free abilities and gifts of good health can serve a mighty purpose - we can't downplay it - but where we go in times of pain and sickness says more to others about the God we serve than all of that combined. Who's ready for this week? And as we begin this Monday, does anyone have prayer requests? Let's go to the Lord together. List your need or simply say, "Unspoken" and I promise we'll all pray for you.