No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5
My son and I were walking into the house the other day talking. I was encouraging him to develop a closer friendship with a young man he just met at driver’s training. He said, “Mom, he’s my friend there and that’s okay. I’m not lonely!”
I am super sensitive to this subject because my son is an only child. I am concerned for him lest he be lonely.
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7
It made me think of my high school days where I lived in virtual isolation. I would have occasional friends, but I was a very introverted, introspective personality, and did not have a flamboyant lifestyle. And yet I was never lonely. I was alone, but never really lonely. I actually enjoyed solitariness. “Homesick” would be more of how I would describe those feelings that bordered on “lonely.”
The other day in this awesome Bible study “Demolishing Strongholds” we were talking about aliens and UFO’s and if they were real. According to the authority of God’s word they aren’t. They are demonic apparitions that appear to fool people in this fallen sinful world. As I pondered the universe and the question as to whether or not life exists on other planets…are we really alone out here in this vast universe…I felt the Spirit take my mind out into the nether reaches of this solar system and show me the planets. He showed me the austerity and blandness of all the planets in comparison to Earth. He asked me, “Why do you think that is?” and then proceeded to show me that from God’s view everything pales in comparison, even the vastness of all of his creation, except for his one true love, the world.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him will not die but live eternally. John 3:16
I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my Savior, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold. The LORD should be praised. I called on him, and I was saved from my enemies. The ropes of death had become tangled around me. The torrents of destruction had overwhelmed me. The ropes of the grave had surrounded me. The clutches of death had confronted me. I called on the LORD in my distress. I cried to my God for help. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help reached his ears. Then the earth shook and quaked. Even the foundations of the mountains trembled. They shook violently because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and a raging fire came out of his mouth. Glowing coals flared up from it. He spread apart the heavens and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. He rode on one of the angels as he flew, and he soared on the wings of the wind. He made the darkness his hiding place, the dark rain clouds his covering. Out of the brightness in front of him, those rain clouds passed by with hailstones and lightning. The LORD thundered in the heavens. The Most High made his voice heard with hailstones and lightning. He shot his arrows and scattered them. He flashed streaks of lightning and threw them into confusion. Then the ocean floor could be seen. The foundations of the earth were laid bare at your stern warning, O LORD, at the blast of the breath from your nostrils. He reached down from high above and took hold of me. He pulled me out of the raging water. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, because they were too strong for me. On the day when I faced disaster, they confronted me, but the LORD came to my defense. He brought me out to a wide-open place. He rescued me because he was pleased with me. Psalm 18:1-19
You are not alone!
Abba, I am not alone. By faith and faith alone I believe this. Jesus, you are my Brother and though you were raised up to be seated in the Heavenly places one day your great leaning stride will cross back to my side. I await the day when my faith shall be sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.