Friday, October 2, 2015

We are Never Alone

I had just left a home visit with a grieving widow and had listen to her share how alone she felt.   No matter the time of day, where she was or who she was with, there was an ever presence sense of aloneness with her.   Hour by hour, day after day; it was always the same.  There was rarely a break, few changes ever occurred; just near constant aloneness.  Loneliness had become her constant companion.  Ironic isn’t?

I was on my way back to my office from that visit…alone I might add.  I was thinking about how it must feel being so alone.  I have to admit that I had a hard time imaging it.  You see at my house, with a wife, four children and a dog named “Charlie” there is rarely a moment by yourself.  My struggle is trying to steal a moment or two here or there to be alone.   But even in those moments, I don’t feel “alone.” 

As I was pondering this unfamiliar idea of “aloneness,” in the background music was playing on my radio.  As I turned my attention to one of my favorite Southern Gospel groups (okay, I know what you’re thinking), I was blown away by what I heard, “Never Walk Alone” written by J.P. Williams (no relation) and Jeremy Johnson.   Here are some of the lyrics: 

Arms stretched opened wide. Barely hanging on
to life, Left to suffer all alone. You came for all
man kind to bridge the great divide. Somehow
ended up alone. Because of all the blood and
tears You shed. I will never know that kind of loneliness.
Your spirit never leaves me. Even when I'm
hurting. I don't have to bare that burden on
my on. You carried all the pain and buried all
the shame when You made that rugged tree Your
Righteous Throne. Because of You, I'll never walk alone
(Emphasis mine.)

“Aloneness” is unfamiliar because we are never alone.   

Moses had died but not before he had commissioned Joshua to take his place of leadership over God’s people, the Israelites.   Can you imagine how Joshua must have felt?   Joshua must have looked around and for the first time Moses wasn’t there!  Whoa!  A rush of aloneness must have swept over him.  But immediately God came to Joshua and said to him, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV, emphasis mine).  And perhaps he needed reminding from time to time, because in Joshua 1:9 God says again, “…Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (emphasis mine). 

The message of “I am with you” was spoken to Isaac as he re-dug the wells of his father Abraham.  It was the message that Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Haggai heard time after time and it was the message of Jesus just as he ascended in to heaven…. I AM WITH YOU!

We are never alone.   The room may be empty, we may be the only one around but we are not alone.   We may feel the absence of a relationship, the distance of a caring soul, but we are never alone.   The phone may never ring, the mail may never come, but we are never alone.  How do I know…because Jesus said so.  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20, NASB).   And no matter where we go, we can never escape the ever present, always near, presence of God. 

The psalmist asked where he could go to be alone.  Heaven?  No, God is there.  To the underworld?   No, God is there.  To the depths of the ocean?  No…God’s there too.  There is no place you can go that God is not there.   I AM WITH YOU…ALWAYS!


Do you feel alone?  Are you overcome by a sense of aloneness?  Call out to God.  Psalm 18:6 David says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.”   And God delivered him (v.17), strengthened him (V.32), and gave him a song to sing (v. 49).  And He will do He will do the same for you.