Where do we run?

                Where do we run in trying times? Do we run to the open arms and comforting words of our friends? Do we confine in the luxuries of sweet and savory foods? Do we collapse into the warmth of our sleepy beds? Or do we instead cling to the strength of our Creator? Unfortunately, I seem to always place God last on the list when I'm needing comfort. I seek friend's advice, relish myself in "comfort food", or loose myself in a romance novel, trying to forget my worries. Eventually after shoving my feelings under for long amounts of time or simply not knowing where to put my heartache, I break and pour out my frustration on the Lord. Wouldn't it have been easier if I had just given him my struggles daily, and let Him lift my burdens continually? Wouldn't it be less painful in the end to give my heaviness and confused heart to the Lord regularly?
                This summer I went through many different hardships, many of them were things I had never thought to ever encounter in my life. During these struggles I poured out my heart to the Lord, wept bitterly, and cried out to him, yet I never asked him to heal me and take my burdensome heart. Months later, after the summer had ended I found myself crying still about those problems, wondering why I still was so scarred and despondent about the trials I had encountered then. I longed to share my hurt with anyone, I longed to run to friends and pour out everything that had happened. Yet that was a luxury that was not granted to me. I was supposed to keep my family's hardships between us in order to protect and support them. I complained to God, asking why I was not allowed to share my hardships with a physical presence rather than Him alone. He slowly revealed to me that although sharing your heart and mourning with others is needed in many situations, I was also called to respect and protect my family and keep the specific details of what had happened between the family and no one else. He then called me forth to lay my sadness upon him and put my heavy burdens in His strong arms.
                So where do you run? I now know, it it best to lay the problems I have at the alter of Jesus Christ. He alone is the amazing Comforter. And He alone can heal our heartache and weariness.