Everybody suffers.  But, we don't have to suffer through our suffering!  As one wise person put it, "to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering." 

Each of us has a choice in life.  We can suffer the pain of heartbreak, aging, loss, or tragedy like those things are final - giving in to cynicism and bitterness. Or, looking to Jesus' life, we can understand those events as occasions to know God.  As occasions for Jesus to tutor our souls about life.  

In Jesus' life and suffering we find a means to and meaning in our suffering.  It's Jesus that teaches us to offer our pain, rejection and tragedy to God, knowing that God can make something divine out of it.  God makes life, where others only see death. Jesus' betrayal, incarceration and finally his murder on the Cross, makes life, peace, joy and community possible now.  Jesus' journey through suffering make Him the best possible friend to us as we go through suffering seasons. 

St. Paul put it this way: "I want to know Christ -- what his resurrection power is like and what it means to share in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death." [Phil. 3.10]

Why choose Jesus?  Who better than Jesus to assure you that there is salvation in the middle of your suffering?