Finally, Jesus made His pres ence real to them. Once the two people realized it was Christ who was with them, the whole situa tion changed in a flash. Despon dency was routed by joy. Fresh hope filled their future. True, this was the third day since Jesus had died, but He was alive forever! Jesus’ promise to us is: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus is always with His people. That presence can be most real and heartening in sorrow and per plexity. As Leonard Griffith com ments: “To believing men and women Christ comes in the un shakable assurance that they are not alone, that beside them on the road there is One who can help because He has walked that road before them. To such peop le Christ is as real as their families and friends. They speak to Him, listen to Him, consult Him and draw their inspiration from Him, upheld by His strong, buoyant ra diant, exuberant spirit, they can never remain trapped for very long in the slough of despond.” Late one evening, when Eu genia Rogers was feeling as if she could endure no more, her whole outlook was sudden ly trans formed. Wearily, she opened her Bible at the end of the day. She read the Lord’s promise: “ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). “ I f He never leaves me,” she reasoned, “ He must be with me now. As He is with me, we are in this together.” Her job did not change, her moth er did not change, but the knowl edge of Christ’s presence changed Eugenia. By His skillful treatment Jesus had dispelled their conflicts, re solved their doubts and laid a solid foundation for their faith. The Lord does not guarantee He will prevent depression from attacking us. But He does show us how we can overcome it. Then with new strength and a new hope, our life will be vibrant and rich. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psa. 30:5). fls]
found than man’s, His methods too are far superior to ours. We do not always have the insight to see Him at work. Our understand ing of God’s activity then breaks down. We cannot see and then we fail to trust. Yet trusting God is always the best attitude, even if at the moment we cannot justi fy our faith in Him. We can trust God because He always will fulfill His Word. Once we are certain what He has prom ised to do, we can go forward, assured that our faithful God will never break His Word. His power will never fail; no stronger per son exists to overcome Him; His love for us will never slacken. He is therefore worthy of our fullest and strongest trust. We do well to say with the Psalmist: “ Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my counten ance, and my God” (Psa. 43:5). Next, Jesus c o r r e c t e d their wrong views of God by giving them a true understanding of the situation. God had been at work all the time. True, He had not done what they had expected; yet He had worked according to the plan He had revealed hundreds of years earlier. Jesus was to die, but not to remain dead. God would raise Him; later, Jesus would share God’s glory. God had not been idle nor had He failed. The two people had failed to under stand God’s plan although He had published it. It is not surprising that they were depressed. When sorrow, failure, shattered hopes or handicaps cloud a man’s life with depression, he may say: “Why should God allow this?” But why should He prevent it? Nowhere has He promised to do it. Even so, God will give us all the power and grace to fulfill His plan for us to serve Him and to live worthily. The Apostle Paul asked God three times to remove his handicap. God never took it away. Instead, He assured Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee” (II Cor. 12:9). Right views o f God can blow away the mists of depression.
As Archbishop Trench has put it so well: “Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will pre vail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take, What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; We rise, and all, the distant and the near, Stand forth in sunny outline brave and clear; We kneel, how weak! we rise, how full of power!” Depression caused by self-pity has a simple cure. Leonard Grif fith tells us of a man he calls Wal lace Wilson. This man had more reason than most to be disheart ened. Every day he came home to an empty house. His beloved wife was an incurable patient in a mental hospital. Tirelessly he worked for the underprivileged in the work of the Church and of the community. When people admired his serene courage, he would re ply: “ I am all right as long as I don’t think about Wallace Wilson. I thank God that He gives me so much to do for Him that I haven’t time to worry about myself.” Jesus9 promise to us is: *fLo9 I am with you ulwuy, even unto the end of the world99 (Matt. 28 :20 ) . Lack of spiritual insight was a further cause o f the depression o f the two travellers on the high way. Jesus speaks o f them as “ fools, and slow of heart” (Luke 24:25). Theirs was a failure not of intellect, but o f spiritual per ception. The root o f their failure was a lack o f trust in God. They had trusted Him to work along the lines and in the way they ex pected. When He had not done that, they had been disappointed. Then their trust in Him had failed. It is no wonder they were depressed. As God’s wisdom is more pro
is
THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker