Never Alone

 

John 16:32  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

There are times when we just want to be alone. Pull away from the noise of the world and the distraction to focus and contemplate on life. Time to examine who we are and where we are going. Time to reflect on where we have been and what our next steps will be moving forward. Being alone is often necessary in order to muse over our relationship with God and others. Being alone on purpose is not the same as being lonely. Loneliness is an emotion that is triggered when we feel no one cares, the absence of feeling we are not loved. It often leads to depression and lack of self-worth. Even though born in sin, we are made in the image of God. We are His creation, therefore the Father values who we are. We may find ourselves in a state of loneliness, but we truly are never alone. Others may scatter about, giving no attention to our presence, but the Father will never leave us alone. He loves the sinner, and He loves those who believe. To the sinner, God seeks to have a relationship. The Holy Spirit works in the life of a sinner to reveal their sinfulness, and bring them into fellowship with his creator, never to be lonely again. To the believer, Satan will discourage us into thinking that we are all alone. Tribulations come, and it seems that we are facing them alone. This is the feeling the disciples had when they were out to sea and the storm came. They cried out, “Master, don’t you care that we perish.” (Mark 4:8). In other words, “Why have you left us alone to die?” Jesus warns us that we will face hard and difficult times in this life, and times when we will feel that we are all alone. He reminded his disciples that even though others may scatter, and hard times come, that the Father will never leave us. When Jesus left this world, He promised us the Holy Spirit, the comforter, that would go with us and be with us in every trial and tribulation we face. No matter what Satan says, we are never alone.

The God Who Sees

 Gen 16:13 (AMP)

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?”

The “God Who Sees”. The implications of this verse can be convicting and comforting. He who is Omnipresent sees all that we do. He sees us when we think no one is looking. Nothing escapes the eye of God. He sees how we treat others, the motives of our heart. He sees if our intentions are for good or evil. God sees and knows our heart. Others may see through a human perspective, and judge incorrectly, but God truly sees us for who we are. God sees when we are going through a storm, He sees our situation and circumstances. We may think that we are all alone facing unfortunate events in our life, but God sees us and will deliver us. Deliverance may not take on the form we hope, but He sees what is ahead of us and will do what is best. Like Haggar, we may understand all that is happening, but He sees us and is in control.

Belonging

Gen 2:18  And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.

God created man with the desire to have relationships. We all long to be connected and belonged. It is not good for people to live in isolation in a world of being alone. As a body of Christ, we need each other. We need the personal relationship with Christ and the fellowship of other believers. Even tho we sometimes walk in the valley of loneliness, He has promised to be there with us. It is not God’s plan that we go through life alone, fellowship and belonging are critical to our social and spiritual well being. There are some things in life that we must bare alone with Christ, but we should never forsake the fellowship of others and walk alone.

Rejoice in the Lord

Habakkuk 3:17,18  Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Life is not always a bowl of cherries. Things often don’t turn out the way we want them to. The efforts we make sometimes seems to be useless and without anything to show. We try to make a difference and the fruit of our labors seem to be all in vain. Discouragement settles in and the temptation to quit trying knocks at the door. just as it seems that we are making progress, the bottom falls out and we are back to square one. Weather it be circumstances at work, home, or the church we can find ourselves alone looking at our circumstance and asking why. In times like this, there is but only one thing to do. Turn our hearts toward the God our salvation. Lift up our hearts in praise. Rejoice in the goodness of God and His love for each one of us. Everything in the world may be turned upside down, but God mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. He sees our uprising and downsitting. He knows the struggle we face from day to day, and He understands our frustrations. Life happens and it often will be discouraging, but God is the same and He changes not. “Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice”

Be Still

Psalm 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Life moves so quickly and everyday is filled with things to do.  Finding time to stop and get still before God becomes even more important than ever. Getting to know God does not happen by accident. If we desire to know Him in a way that is personal, we need to find a place to be alone with Him. Take time out of our busy schedule to think on His power, love, mercy, and grace. Take time to praise Him for who He is and exalt His name. Put way the things in our lives that clutter our thoughts just for a moment, and let our heart be warmed by His presences. Solace is found when we can empty ourselves and let God fill us with His Spirit. Like a river, He desires to flow in us and through us. 

Alone With God

Mat. 13:23 “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up onto a mountain apart to pray. And when evening had come, He was there alone.”

We live in a culture were we are constantly on the move. We race against time to get things done. There seems to be not enough hours in a day to finish what we start. Jesus, went about His day working to meet the needs of people. Healing, feeding, comforting  and forgiving people who recognize their helpless condition. Yet, He made time to be alone with His Father. How much more necessary is it that we take time out of our day to be alone with God. Time to read His Word, time to meditate of His love, time to worship Him, time for Him to search our hearts, and time to petition Him for our needs and the needs of others. With the demands of the day, it is not always easy to slip away to be alone with God, but it is imperative that we do. When we get alone with God we are able to enter into His presence to pour out our hearts, refresh our spirits, and know the mind of God. With purpose, let us put aside those things that distract us, and draw nigh to God, for He has promise to be there for us. 

Working Third Shift

Psalm 134:1 “Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord.”- 

Doing third shift is tough if you are not a night owl. The third shift can get lonely and can sometime be difficult to stay alert and watchful. Third shifters are gap fillers, they carry on the duties, reaching out in places where it seem insignificant. There are many who are working in isolated places doing the work of the Kingdom. At times it may seem that they are all alone. They labor at “night” where no one is watching. They continue to do what is right in spite of the circumstances. They keep the worship doors open in case someone is wandering in the darkness of sin needs a place to find help.  Standing in the house of the Lord at night may mean carrying most of the financial load and being faithful to the house of God even when there may be only two or three. God has promised that He will bless those who are working the third shift. He has promise that He will be with them, even in the night. 

On His Shoulders

Luke 15: “And when he hath found it, he layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing.”-

 Often when am in a large crowd where there are thousands of people, I ask myself, “Does God really care about every single person on this earth?” History has recorded tens of millions of people have come and gone from this world, and to think that God took interest in each one of them. Humanity born into this world lost in sin are like sheep who have gone astray to do their own thing. Christ came to seek all who are lost in sin, to bring them into the kingdom of God. It matters not who you are or how insignificant you may feel, Jesus cares about your life and the problems you face. He desires to pick you up and carry you on His shoulders and bring you safely home. 

There are times as Christians that we need Jesus to take special notice of our situation, and we may wonder if this is just “life” and like everyone else we need to deal with it. We start to look at our circumstances and wonder how we will find our way out. Everyone has problems, and what makes us so special that God will take the time to rescue us. But, Jesus who is omnipresent and all knowing reaches down into our little world and carries us on His shoulders. On His shoulders, we can rejoice that He loves and cares for us individually and knows exactly what we need. Yes, it may seem at times that we are all alone and no one around to help, but I’m so glad we serve a God who take special note of our needs and He rejoices when we call on Him for help. Thank God, He carries us on His shoulders.