HA!  YOU JUST THINK YOU HAVE PROBLEMS!

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)

My husband and I love to read.  Many evenings, you can find us curled up at opposite ends of our couch, reading.  A few months ago, we both read an excellent book called Second Touch by Brock and Bodie Thoene.  It was a fictional account of lepers who lived in the Valley of Mak’ob.  Lily, who contracted leprosy at the age of nine; Cantor, who became Lily’s husband and Rabbi Ahava were the main characters.  All of them were lepers who found hope only in the coming of the Messiah.

In Jesus’ time, the first signs of leprosy were often fever, clumsiness and numbness of the extremities.  When scalding water was accidentally spilled on Lilly’s hand, she felt nothing.  After determining that the family member had leprosy, the leprous person was ordered out of the house and all of their possessions were burned.  They remained in isolation until the priest came and rendered their final judgment “Tsara’at!” or unclean.  Then the family and community drove the leper from their home forever by throwing rocks at them.  How depressing!

Lepers often walked for days, half starving and some with only stumps for their feet, to reach the Valley of Mak’ob.  This was the only place that lepers could dwell in relative safety.  They formed a family unit among themselves and cared for one another.  There was a constant aura of gloom that hung over this valley, as daily people would die as the leprosy ate away their flesh.  In the end, the hoped-for Messiah came to the valley, healed each one, and made them well and whole again.

Most of us never come in contact with lepers today, even though leper colonies still exist in some places.  I can’t think of anything more depressing than a leper colony, can you?  When I compare my years of pain, fatigue and “isolation” with a chronic illness to being a leper, I have nothing to complain about.  Instead, I have so much to give thanks for!

Have you looked around you today?  There are many people who are hurting worse than we are.  Some are hurting on the inside, with no visible evidence on the outside.  Perhaps you could offer them a Scripture verse, phone call, or word of encouragement to give them hope.  Let them know that their circumstances are not hopeless; Jesus still heals today!

Dear Jesus – We praise You that You still heal today and that You love us with an unfailing love!