In our fallen world, there will always be difficult times, times to cry and times to pray. None of them ever need to take us away from our Heavenly Father. In fact, they can bring us closer together and knit us together forever. But for pain to work this miracle bonding, we cannot hold on to our pain or use it to feel sorry for ourselves. Doing that only demonstrates that we are being selfish and keeping our focus upon ourselves. As always, Jesus our Savior is our best example. His lead is what we can follow. He felt the pain that sin and mankind´s separation from God. But His recognition of our sad condition did not distance Him from the Father. He would not allow anything to do that. So, instead, He let it draw Him closer, submit His will further, and bind Him more intimately to the Father as if it were indeed possible. We too can choose what our strife, our struggles or our pain will do to our relationship with God. We can bow more humbly before the throne of grace. We can open our hearts more fully to the Lord. We can depend more on our Savior. We can listen more intently for the still small voice of the Spirit. We can look anxiously to see where God is moving or where He is taking us through our times of need. We can let our faith grow. And, we can follow our Master and say with every beat of our heart, “Not our will be done, but Yours!”