I was a thousand miles away from home and soon to be over 8,000 miles away.  Home was now a two-person tent.  There was no electricity or other modern conveniences.  I had just turned 13.  I was in the middle of a primitive swamp camp in Florida training for a mission trip to Zimbabwe.

There were about 20 other teenagers in the group, of which I was the youngest.  And I felt like the youngest!  The difference between 13 and 16 can seem rather trivial.  But to me, it was anything but trivial.  Most of them could drive and seemed so much more mature.  I had just graduated from the tweens and was only recently initiated into puberty.  I felt out of my league and alone.

The humidity was oppressive.  Nothing was ever really dry.  About the only thing that thrived was the mosquitos.  There were alligators, coral snakes, and we shook out our boots every morning to make sure scorpions hadn’t found a new home.  Needless to say, it was a difficult and trying time; so very different than home in the Midwest.  One night, just a few days before we were to leave for Africa, I was crying myself to sleep in my tent.  I was very homesick.  I longed for my family, not to mention my bed, a real shower, and air conditioning.

I had been crying for awhile when I heard in my thoughts, “Why are you crying?”  This voice/thought came out of the blue and caught me completely by surprise.  I replied in my thoughts, “Uh, isn’t it obvious?”  The voice-thought responded, “Don’t you know I’ll always be with you, no matter where you are?  I can give you so much more than your parents ever can.”

I dried my eyes and didn’t cry myself to sleep again.  My circumstances hadn’t changed, but I knew I’d be alright.  The God of the universe had stooped down to comfort and encourage a 13-year-old girl in the middle of a swamp pit. 

The statement about giving me things caused me much confusion over the next several years.  I wasn’t a high-maintenance person.  I didn’t want much or require much.  Why was God bringing up giving me things?  It seemed such an odd addition.  It took a long time, but I finally realized that He wasn’t necessarily referring to physical items.  God was talking about wisdom, direction, safety, patience, abilities, and more. 

God recently brought this experience to my mind and I relived it again.  My mind got stuck on the question, “Why are you crying?”  I wondered why He would ask when He already knew.  It felt like there was some greater point behind the question.  I asked God about it over several days.  Finally, I realized the question was stated honestly, as if my crying didn’t make sense.  And what had His response been?  “Don’t you know…”  It’s not that God didn’t understand, it’s that I didn’t understand! (Shocking, I know, but there’s more.)

I couldn’t see the whole picture.  All I could understand was the physical world around me, which was rather bleak.  I was missing the spiritual reality, which completely overshadows the physical.  We cannot understand truth unless we can grasp the spiritual with the physical; the complete picture.

What was the whole picture?  I was following where God was leading.  It was a step of faith, stepping into the complete unknown.  But where God leads, He will be faithful.  I was not alone.  No matter what happened, He had it under control.  I could rely on Him and see the path through.  When you realize that, the honest question really is, “Why are you crying?” 

Child, if you know that I am in control and that I’m with you, why would you cry?

Don’t let the deceiver blind you to the honest God truth!  Satan’s partial truths wound and hinder us.  Ask God to show you what’s really going on; the true reality.  God can pull back the blinds and reveal the truth.  Remember dear child, He is in control.  Do not be afraid.  He’s got this.  Let Him wipe away your tears.

2 Kings 6:13-17:  What was Elisha’s prayer?  Make it yours!  v8-23 for whole story.
Exodus 14:10-16:  What is the command and question here (v13, 15)?
Ephesians 6:10-13:  What do we truly struggle against?
Revelation 2:9-18:  What does He say?  Why do we have confidence?
Do not be afraid (verses): A theme carried from Genesis to Revelation.