How are you doing today, my brother, my sister?  We ask that question a lot, in various forms, and usually when we ask it, it is as a greeting and we really don't expect a long or detailed answer.  The usual response is usually along the lines of "Fine, and you?"  But the truth is, there is a lot of times when a person is not feeling very "fine".  Sometimes a physical ailment has got us down.  Sometimes it is a spiritual ailment or pain.  Perhaps you are in pain today.   Perhaps your circumstances seem bleak to you.  It's easy to get caught up in the worries of this world, if you aren't careful.  Depression is something most of us have felt at one time or another.  To the unsaved, to those that have not repented of their sinful ways and accepted Jesus Christ, well, I am sorry, but you will be depressed a lot.  How sorrowful to not believe in Jesus, how sad to deny the creator.  How awful it must feel, that separation from Christ!  My advice to you is to pray about it, to repent and reach out to God, He's reaching out to you.  You perhaps just can't see this - Pray to God to open your eyes. 

As believers, we too fall prey to depression.  Sometimes our circumstances appear to overwhelm us.  Sometimes we believe in the things we see more than the things we don't.  And pain is real, both spiritual and physical.  I visited a lady in a nursing home last Sunday.  She stared off into space, her sister-in-law had died a few days ago.  Her pain, her loss was real.  I visited a lady I had met before who was suffering from a form of Alzheimer's.  She shook my hand and was quick to assure me that she wasn't a resident, she was merely waiting for her son to come pick her up.  My heart was broken as I saw the worry on her face as time passed and no-one arrived.  I had saw this scenario the week before with the same lady. 

I was overwhelmed last week, during a Bible study at a nursing home, a lady in a wheelchair interrupted the meeting to ask us to help find her husband.  She said He had been at church and she was waiting for him to come home, but that it had been a few days.  She asked if we would help find him, perhaps call the police.  I was informed by some of the other residents that her husband has been dead for over 20 years.  We prayed for the lady and assured her that God knew where her husband was.  I could tell though that she couldn't understand - she appreciated the praying but what she really wanted was for one of us to "DO" something, to go looking for him, to call the police and get things started.  I prayed to God to help her and help her find her husband.  I prayed to God to help me - to teach me how to help.  And I mourned, as did the group.  How much pain we go through, sometimes because we just can't or don't see.  We despair because of our circumstances sometimes, because we can't see God or his solutions. 

(2Ki 6:8) Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

(2Ki 6:9) And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

(2Ki 6:10) And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

(2Ki 6:11) Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

(2Ki 6:12) And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

(2Ki 6:13) And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

(2Ki 6:14) Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

(2Ki 6:15) And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

(2Ki 6:16) And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

(2Ki 6:17) And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

(2Ki 6:18) And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
 

Most of us can would forgive the servant of Elisha - here they were, surrounded by a great army.  Yet, although he couldn't see it, he was never in any danger.  Please note that Elisha prayed only that the Lord would open his servants eyes.  He did not pray that He send horses and chariots of fire - THEY WERE ALREADY THERE.  The outcome of this battle was never in doubt.  Elisha knew it, but the servant couldn't see.  Elisha prayed and God opened the servants eyes.  The circumstances were bleak from what the servant could see, from his perspective - but not after God opened his eyes.

(Gen 21:9) And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

(Gen 21:10) Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

(Gen 21:11) And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.

(Gen 21:12) And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

(Gen 21:13) And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

(Gen 21:14) And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

(Gen 21:15) And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

(Gen 21:16) And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

(Gen 21:17) And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

(Gen 21:18) Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

(Gen 21:19) And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
 

Hagar was overwhelmed by her circumstances, her situation.  She went from having a home, security, food and drink, to a place where she was dying of thirst.  She actually cast her child under a shrub and sat a ways off so she wouldn't have to see the death of her child for lack of water, and cried.  God her the child and responded.  He opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.  I don't believe, from what I read, that the well of water just appeared.  I believe the well of water was there all the time.  God just opened her eyes so she could see it.  Even when things are bleakest, God will send comfort, usually in the form of just opening our eyes a bit, so we can trust just a little more.  Let me give one last example of a situation that seemed hopeless, when in fact it was just that the people involved couldn't see.

(Luk 24:13) And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

(Luk 24:14) And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

(Luk 24:15) And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

(Luk 24:16) But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

(Luk 24:17) And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

(Luk 24:18) And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

(Luk 24:19) And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:

(Luk 24:20) And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

(Luk 24:21) But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

(Luk 24:22) Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

(Luk 24:23) And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

(Luk 24:24) And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

(Luk 24:25) Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

(Luk 24:26) Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

(Luk 24:27) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

(Luk 24:28) And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

(Luk 24:29) But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

(Luk 24:30) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

(Luk 24:31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

(Luk 24:32) And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

(Luk 24:33) And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

(Luk 24:34) Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
 

I'm sure these 2 men were depressed.  They had believed that their saviour had arrived.  They thought their King had come.  This was not, in their minds, how it was supposed to be.  They had saw the one they had thought to be their King, beaten, mocked, crucified!   This probably was not what they expected when Jesus spoke about the Kingdom.  But their eyes were opened, and they saw.  And they were strengthened by the opening of their eyes.  Again, the Well didn't just appear, He was there all the time.  They just couldn't see.  Perhaps they were looking at it from the wrong perspective.  In many things we just can't see.  Pray to God in times of trouble that He will open your eyes.  As a Christian, you can rest assured that God is watching over you.  I do not understand many of the things I see.  I don't know how to help a lot of the people I see, especially in the nursing homes.  But I can rest assured that God can and will help.   One day God will wipe the tears from our eyes.  

Oh Lord, I pray for comfort for those that are hurting.  I trust in you to watch over us.  I know that you are aware of the lady who was missing her husband, I will trust that hear her cries.  Oh Lord, open our eyes that we may see more clearly, build our faith up, help us to trust and depend on you in our times of trouble, in our daily lives.  Thank you God for loving us. Amen.