​I am targeting this week’s word to two specific scenarios.
           

• First, to hurting people who feel that God is a million miles away and does not care about them. 

 

• Secondly, to people reading this who know a hurting person who feels God has taken a hike and they need to know that He hasn’t.

 
Thirty-four years ago, I was a patient in a psychiatric hospital being treated for severe reactive depression. During the eerily dark hours of the eternally long nights on the psych ward, the spirit of despair haunted me with suicidal thoughts. By myself, I felt horribly lonely. Abandoned.
           
One evening in particular I was emotionally restless and extremely upset. Wrestling unsuccessfully with what strength I had to overcome an overwhelming sense of despair and hopelessness; I felt that God was nowhere to be found.
 

• When I needed Him most, I thought God had taken a hike. Fearing that God was not with me plunged me into a spiritual/emotional panic.

 
As a believer in Christ and minister of the Gospel, the thought of God being nowhere present was very frightening. Anxious and terrified by the prospect that God might be hiding out from me in some distant galaxy far, far away, I reached for the nearby nightstand, turned on the light and grabbed my Bible. Then the Holy Spirit led me to Psalms 34:17-18 and Psalms 107:20.
 
“The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
 
“He sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from their difficulties.”
 

• My fear was that God was not near.

 
The Psalmist assured me that God is near, not far from the broken hearted. Feelings ran rampant over my faith. So, God sent His Word to heal me from my terrifying thoughts that He had taken a hike.
 
David knew from personal experience that God is near and hears us when we are hurting. He also delivers and saves those whose spirits are crushed. My feelings on that depressing night deceived me, lied to me, clouding the truth in darkness. But the light of the Word drove darkness away.
 
I was so relieved to be reminded that God is near, He hears our cries. He delivers and saves us from trouble. Sounds like God is Johnny-on-the spot for you and me!
           
But it amazes me how we humans decide during times of difficulty that God pulls away from us?
 
Why do we do that? Why would God take a hike on us? You and I error in our thinking because pain blocks our faith and blinds us to the fact that God is not a zillion miles away. The God who sent His only Son out of heaven to earth to save humanity never takes a hike on the people He loves.
 
On the contrary, when we hurt, He gets up close and personal.
 

• Think about it. How could God deliver and save if He is nowhere to be found? A God who has taken a hike cannot heal those who are hurting.

 
When my children are hurting and need dear old Dad, I do not run and hide. I draw near to them and do what good father’s do…reassure them of my love and do everything within my power to help heal their hurt. 
 
When It Feels Like God Has Taken A Hike…
 

• He has not. His Word says so. God does not desert those He loves.
• God is nearer than ever when His children are hurting. The more hurt, the closer the Healer is.
• Satan is selling you a lie. Do not buy it. The devil wants you to feel abandoned and alone.  
• Emotional pain and heartache are talking. Instead of rehearsing and nursing your feelings, curse your hurt. Speak words of faith and hope. Tell your feelings to take a hike!
• Open your heart to the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.    

             

• I am so thankful and glad that when I felt God was not near, that in reality, He was with me. Even in a dark, lonely hospital room in Louisiana. This revelation delivered me from despair and saved my life.

 
If you are hurting and feeling that God has taken a hike on you, He hasn’t. He can’t. He won’t.  Ever. The Lord is with you, for you, and working on your behalf. We have His Word on it. So, believe it. Receive His healing and restoring love. Do it right now
 
If you are ministering to someone who feels God is far away, tell them that is untrue. Share the truth with them that God is right by their side. Support them by reassuring them that God is near and hears their cries for help. Encourage them to open their heart to the Lord Jesus who will meet their every need.  
           
Take heart my friends! When our hearts are broken, the Lord is near to the broken hearted. When we feel crushed in spirit, God crashes in close to bind up our hearts and heal our wounds. The nearness of our Heavenly Father in a time of crisis is proof of His unconditional, everlasting love for you and me!  
 

• God’s Word or your feelings…you decide if God is near or not.

 
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”                                   Hebrews 13:5
 
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”                                    Matthew 20:28
 
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”                                         James 4:8
 
A Word For Your Week: When you feel like God has taken a hike, He hasn’t.
 
 
 

​Have you ever blown a problem out of proportion?
 
Of course you have. So have I. It is human to do so… and can be harmful to our well-being.
 
In the Bible, the Promised Land flowing with “milk and honey” (Honeynut Cheerios!) awaited the Israeli people (read Numbers 13:1-14:10).
 
All God’s people had to do was trust Him, go in by faith to take the land the Lord had already secured for them. Then settle down to a peaceful, prosperous life. No problem, right? Wrong!
 
 When the twelve chosen spies came back from their reconnaissance mission, even though the land was everything and more than God said it would be, the majority gave out a bad report (most majority groups do by the way!).
 
Milk and honey, fruit, cultivated fields, livestock, established cities…but big, bad giants too (13:25-32). These giants are so huge we must look like puny little grasshoppers to them (13:33). We are no match for the Nephilim. These superhuman specimens will squish us for sure!
 

• The reason the fearful spies saw the inhabitants as giants and Israel as grasshoppers is because ten of the twelve spies saw themselves as grasshoppers. They saw themselves in an inferior position.

 
On the other hand, Caleb and Joshua, delivering the minority report, saw Israel in the superior position (13:30, 14:6-10). Full of faith and courage, these two brave souls saw the giants as no match for God.
 
“Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land for they shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”   Numbers 14:9
 
The Lord was with Israel and had removed the big, bad dudes protection.  I can hear Joshua and Caleb: Let’s not stand around in fear ladies and gentlemen. Stir up your faith. Sound the charge. Conquer the enemy. Enjoy what is ours according to God’s promise!
 

• Thank God for men like Joshua and Caleb. They did not cower and cave in to fear. They rose up with faith to exhort and encourage the people to go forward and take the land.

 
Sadly, the people believed the negative report. God’s chosen people would wander for forty years and die in the wilderness because they saw themselves as grasshoppers!
.

• Minority report versus majority report. Giants or grasshoppers.

 
 Fear or faith. Incredibly and to their detriment the people followed the wrong bunch and disobeyed the Lord. Result: Rebellion led to aimless wandering in the wilderness for forty years and no Honeynut Cheerios!
 
 My friend, if you see yourself as a grasshopper, you will act like one. If you see yourself as a giant-killer, you will be one. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU BE!
 
How you and I perceive our problems determines how we solve them. Israel arrived at a critical crossroads of decision. Grasshoppers will never kill giants. Giant-killers kill giants!
 
Biblical Perspective. Because we serve a GIANT GOD, enemies and problems are grasshoppers, not giants. According to the Word of God, God’s people are the giants. Their enemies are the grasshoppers.
 

• When facing a formidable problem, keep Almighty God in the equation.

 

• As God’s blood-bought, Spirit-filled son or daughter, how do you see yourself today? Grasshopper or GIANT??

 
My brothers and sisters in Christ our enemy’s protection is removed. You and I are protected. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go forward by faith. Conquer our enemies. Solve our problems in Jesus’ all-powerful, unbeatable name. Raise the victory banner over whatever or whoever opposes us.
 

• Just a Thought: Enemies who would prey on us better pray for they are our prey! Hallelujah!

 
“But in all these things we overwhelming conquer through Him that loves us. For I am convinced that neither death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or things present, or things to come, or powers, or height, or depth or any other created thing, shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 
 
A Word For Your Week: Our problems are as big or as small as we think they are.
 
.

Lepers.
 
Human outcasts.
 
Excommunicated from the community. Isolated from loved ones for a lifetime.  Cursed with a loathsome disease that required them to declare “Unclean, unclean.” whenever they appeared in public. Such was the sad, pitiful life of a person afflicted with leprosy.
 
One day ten lepers cried out with loud voices to the Son of God as He passed by. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Read the entire scenario in Luke 17:11-21. Hearing their heartfelt cries and seeing their pitiful condition, Jesus, full of compassion, instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests.
 
Why go to the priests? The Levitical law required that when a leper was healed he had to be declared clean by the priests.
 

• Something wonderful was about to happen.

 
The Word says the lepers obeyed Jesus’ command to go. And “as they were going, they were cleansed.”  As they went, they were healed. The Lord showered mercy upon the lepers as they obeyed His command to go. Leprosy was cleansed. They would be declared clean.
 
Imagine the astonishment and joy of the ten lepers as they touched their once rotten flesh that is now The Lord restored them to physical, emotional, and social wholeness with His Word.. Jesus miraculously healed them!
 

• It was now time for the former lepers to shout the praises of God for His great mercy.

 
A funny thing happened after the healed lepers left the temple. Our primary verse for the week reports that only one of the men thanked Jesus for healing him. Just one.
 
“Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.”  Luke 17:15-16
 

• One out of ten turned back. Imagine: only one came back to give Jesus thanks for healing him.

 
With a loud voice, the one grateful man glorified God and fell on his face before the Lord in humility and gratitude.
 
One grateful man.  The Son of God was shocked. Verses 17-18 state “And Jesus answered and said,” Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
 

• Can you feel the disappointment and pain in the Lord’s question?

 
It blew Him away that nine out of ten never even returned to say thanks. Ten were healed. Nine were ungrateful. Utterly amazing. Hard to comprehend.
 
In verse 19, the Lord told the single thankful man to rise up and enter back into life. His faith had made him whole. The one grateful guy, once a looked down upon, segregated foreigner to boot, was declared whole not only by the priests but by the Great Physician Himself! Wow!
 

• Imagine the wonderful new life that began that moment for the thankful former leper!

 
 It is worthy of noting that no further mention is made of the thankless nine except that of leaving a legacy of ungratefulness for what God did in their lives. Shame on them.
 
Seven Simple Truths About Gratitude.
 
1.     God deserves our thanks for His goodness to us.
2.     Gratitude is an attitude of the heart.
3.     God works in us when we go and do what He tells us to do.
4.     Giving God the glory is the mark of healthy, heartfelt faith.
5.     Crying out to God for help should be followed by shouting His praises when we are helped.
6.     We choose to be the thankful one or the unthankful nine.
7.     God’s blessing comes to those who are grateful.
 
            *** ONE GRATEFUL GUY. 
 

• If only one in ten does indeed give God thanks, will that one be you?

 
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His loving-kindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”                                                              Psalm 107:1-2a 
 
A Word For Your Week: Be grateful because God has done great things for you.

A gentleman made an appointment with me for counseling. Life was stressing him out. Having rehearsed a lengthy list of troubles troubling him, he looked at me with a discouraged, perplexed look. Then he commented “Steve, if this is all there is to life, I don’t think I like it!”
 
Have you ever thought what he verbalized? If you and I are honest, most of us have at one time or another.
           
Honestly, if this earthly life is all there is, I do not always like it either. Sometimes life can just plain stink! Can I get an Amen!
 

• But what makes life on planet earth bearable, endurable, conquerable and even enjoyable, is that our life is about eternity, not just earthly existence.

 
 Ecclesiastes 3:11a reads “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart…”
 
·      Today’s word is about life perspective.
 
The Apostle Paul shares with us timely truth tips to hold on to when troubles visit life.
 
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  II Corinthians 4:18
 
·      Life for Christians is about faith for eternity.
 
Our magnificent Creator and gracious, loving Heavenly Father has prepared a place for us that is spiritually, physically, and every other way out of this world!
           
Paul understood this. Even though he was properly immersed in earthly pursuits as he preached the Gospel, and suffered from many trying troubles, Paul was a BIG PICTURE PERSON.
 
A big picture person focuses on the eternal, not the temporal. They look for what is behind what they see. Big picture people know there is a spiritual realm beyond this earthly one.
           
·      Troubles trip us up when we neglect to take the long look at life.
 
Christians are called to triumph, not trip over trouble. When we are thinking about the Big Stuff (eternal) it is easy not to sweat the small stuff (temporal).
 
In verses 16-18, Paul contrasts the temporal and eternal, the seen and the unseen. Focusing on the seen (sight alone) creates anxiety and frustration. Focusing on the unseen (faith and hope) sparks anticipation, excitement and enthusiasm.  
 
Unseen does not mean it is not there. I cannot see air, but it is there. If not, well, see you later because I cannot breathe! Just because we have not physically seen Jesus, does not mean He is not alive and able to change our lives.
 
I Peter 1:8 declares “and though you have not seen Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”  WOW… I love this verse. We do not have to see Jesus to know He is with us.
 
·      The unseen is seen with the eye of faith.  
 
Paul’s Perspective On Temporal Troubles.
 
Paul exhorts us to not “lose heart” and live triumphantly over troubles for the following reasons.
 
1. Focus on your inner man, not the outer man. Let’s face it: our flesh is decaying. But our spirit is being “renewed day by day.” Decay makes for a bad day. Renewal turns trouble into triumph! Guess where we should put our energy?
 
2. Temporal troubles are momentary. Trials, tests, and troubles are of short duration. They have a limited shelf life.  Troubles may feel like they are terminal and eternal. But they are not. When faith keeps feelings in check, troubles last just a few moments…and they usually will not kill us!
 
3. Temporal troubles are light compared to the weight of eternal glory. Too often we empower our troubles and give them weight they do not deserve. Troubles in light of eternity are not as heavy as we make them out to be. They are light weight, not heavy weights. Do not blow out of proportion what God says is a small thing. Our “light  affliction” produces for us a great glory that cannot be compared to trouble in any way.
 
4. Keep your eyes fixed on the unseen, not the seen. What we see is temporal and time bound. Focus on what you see and feel, and trouble is spelled TROUBLE!!! What we do not see is eternal and timeless. Rivet your spiritual eyes on what you cannot see and feel, and trouble is spelled trouble. Faith and hope in Jesus Christ turn TROUBLE into trouble every time!
 
·      The long look keeps us from tripping up over tiny, temporary troubles.
 
Rubber meets the road: Are you my friend troubled by life right now? DO NOT LOSE HEART! Your troubles are not as big and bad as they want you to believe them to be.
           
·      Take a deep spiritual breath. Take the long look. Face your troubles with faith. Talk to your troubles. Tell them they are no big deal. Then watch them fade away into the sunset of insignificance.  
 
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”      John 14:1-3
 
Beloved Christin, an eternal home in heaven with Jesus is worth the long look of faith. Hallelujah!  
 
A Word For Your Week: Trouble will not triumph over you and me because Jesus is bigger than trouble.