Riding on the Struggle Bus

 "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me; even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139: 7-12

    When vacationing with my family out west, I became lost in the woods near Jenny Lake, Wyoming. The path I took seemed right to my 8-year-old mind, but it soon became clear I was utterly alone. Or was I? 

    Though I am not literally lost in the woods these days, I have times when that feeling of loneliness looms large in my heart. In a crowded room, I am as small as a poppy seed. The happy chatter of the masses resonate not with me.

    When God feels far away, when you feel as if he could not possibly identify with the gloom that pervades you, you are listening to the devil on your shoulder. That evil pest persists in puncturing your peace, trying to convince you that God is absent: "He's lofty. He doesn't really care about you. You are not worthy. You walk alone." 

    Jesus begs to differ. He created the spartan Sahara Desert as well as the majestic Alps. Some sunrises burst forth in glorious orange hues while others are more of a secret whisper. Did He not form the seemingly insignificant blood spider as well as the regal lion? Can Jesus only be found in the pomp and circumstance of glided skies or is He not also on the crusty tundra of Antarctica? Whatever the weather, whatever the location, whatever emotion betides you; He is there with you.

    Don't listen to Satan's lies. God's in the seat beside you on the struggle bus, His right hand holding you fast. Grip it with all you have and you'll get off at the next stop with Him.

    "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38, 39