Chasing Away the Blues Jesus' Way (Part Two)

"When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow." -- Luke 22:45

"But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food here'?" -- Luke 24:41

Sorrow. Joy. Human emotions. But they do not escape God's care, for He loves us so very much. He wants us to know joy (Rom. 12:12), to be comforted in sorrow (Mt. 5:4) and if Jesus' response to His followers in either of the above situations is any indication, He will enable us to know it! When He showed me His admonition to His disciples in each of these accounts, I knew they were an admonishment to me as well.

How often I have been tempted to simply roll over, pull the covers over my head, and give up, as I have been caring for Mom. In truth, I have done it internally: avoiding, detaching, even blaming others -- anything to pretend this routine is not the "pointless rut" it sometimes seems to be. And there is no monopoly on these feelings. Full-time moms know tremendous joy in having their young children with them all the time; but there is also loneliness, frustration, feelings of failure and inadequacy, and a tremendous inability to check off those things on our "To Do" lists (something many of us enjoy doing). Athletes recovering from serious injury or illness can find themselves thrown back to "START", unable to see the finish line, much less taste victory. Bright, idealistic graduates who emerge from college unable to find employment in their desired field. I think anyone whose plan have been thwarted for any length of time, or anyone who finds themselves at the mercy of their circumstances has experienced some of these same emotions.

Please allow me to share with you the principles God has shared with me from these verses:

1. Rise. In Luke 22:46, Jesus' response to His sleeping disciples was "Rise." Get moving! I have found myself, parked on the sofa watching endless hours of "Wagon Train" with Mom because she needs me to be with her. And some days she does. But when she's having a good day, I can get a lot finished so long as I stay close by, and I check in with her every hour or so. I just can't fall to the deception that every day is going to be "bad". I need to Rise. Give it a shot. If I have to close up the paints, or put away the ingredients, or close the laptop, there's always tomorrow.

2. Pray. In the same verse, Jesus tells His disciples to pray, Nothing -- and I do mean no thing -- beats the power of prayer. Heading to a fight without the power of prayer is like going to war without knowing how to use your weapon -- you've got the tools it takes, and you may even get lucky and plink off an enemy or two, but you are out of your league! Exposing your heart to your Lord and Savior, sitting in quiet before Him, awaiting His peace, or instruction, or loving rebuke, readies you for battle or pulls you back to safety where you can watch what He does for you!

3. Give. In Luke 24:41, Jesus asked His followers to provide what they had that He might show them the truth and bring them to joy. Some broiled fish. A voice to sing. A couple of hours of "free time" on a Saturday afternoon. A sweatshirt that no longer fits. Whatever it is, Jesus can use it if we give out of a heart to honor and serve Him. If a few bites of fish and a honeycomb can open a man's eyes to who Jesus is, what can a few years of teaching Sunday school do for a group of children?

 4. Watch. In verse 43, to prove He has risen, to prove His resurrection, to prove He is flesh and bone, Jesus eats what they have given Him. Imagine them at first, looking a bit confused; but not a single eye is turned away. And as they watch, the truth is revealed. It is as He said. They can believe for joy! For now. For all eternity!

He said it to me. He is saying it to you. Watch what God can do...

...when we get moving
...when we pray
...when we give
...when we watch