Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Is sadness the same as sorrow? My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, the Epistle reading today gives us the opportunity to discuss the difference. We may feel sadness in our daily lives. Sadness is a feeling we get when we experience or witness something unhappy, or maybe when we feel like something just isn’t going quite right. We can usually push through the sadness by overcoming whatever caused it. Sorrow, however, is a deep distress, the most immense sadness that hits us deep in our souls. We have sorrow when we experience life-altering events, like losing a loved one. Sorrow can overwhelm and consume a person, sending him deep into the dark vortex of its consequences and suffers. Many times, asking for help is the only way to get out. We must be willing to seek God’s help.
The first step toward healing is admitting that we need help. Acknowledging and accepting our weaknesses is in fact a sign of great strength. And the most courageous thing we can do is to make the choice to ask for help and then accept help. Pray and ask for God’s help. Talk to your family, your friends, your church community, and ask for their help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. God will not judge us. And we will not judge each other. We are all here to help each other in every way we can.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We are struck down, but not destroyed.” We will experience sadness throughout our lives, but we do not need to be trapped by sorrow. Today’s Epistle reminds us that prayer has the power to lift us out of our sorrow. We must never forget that even Jesus Christ prayed to God and that His prayers were such an important part of His life. The Gospels tell us about the countless times Jesus prayed with the people or stepped away to pray to God on His own. My beloved brothers and sisters, please come to church and let us pray together or pray with us from your homes during services. Find a group of friends or family to pray with or find comfort in praying on your own. How you pray is not important. The important thing is that you pray. Praying will give you the strength to fight the sorrow. “Let the light shine out of darkness.” Let us have the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God.” Amen.