By Paul Albert
In preparing this edition I repeatedly noticed the idea of being alone. What is it like to be really alone? Dictionary definitions include “separate, apart, or isolated from others” (Dictionary.com) and “without anyone or anything else” (Merriam-Webster.com). We may think of widows or widowers. Prisoners come to my mind as another example, many of whom we pray for at Grace & Truth. Family members find themselves alone during conflicts in the home. Even a youth standing for Christ when no one else does senses what it is to be alone. Many more examples could be given.
Being alone does not always mean a person is lonely, but the two terms have ties with each other. Loneliness includes a feeling – often of being sad or depressed. Do you feel lonely sometimes? I do, but there are others that I know who experience it far more deeply.
What was it like for the Lord Jesus? He was different than everyone else, even to the point that his mother and stepfather, according to Luke 2:41-50, did not grasp what it was for Him at the age of 12 to “be about [His] Father’s business” (NKJV). Jesus’ disciples fled when He was arrested, leaving Him alone (Mk. 14:50). Then there was that work which the Father had given Him to do – it was His work alone (Jn. 17:4). The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt. 27:46, see Ps. 22:1). Nothing that we feel in terms of being alone or lonely comes even close to what the Lord experienced.
What is special about this is that He, the One who understands better than anyone what it is to be alone or lonely, is with His people and desires to comfort them with His presence. An unknown Christian wrote:
| “How many times discouraged, we sink beside the way; About us all is darkness, we hardly dare to pray; Then from the mists and shadows, the sweetest voice e’er known, Says, ‘Child, am I not with thee, never to leave thee alone?’ No, never alone! No, never alone!He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone!” |
May you sense His presence right now.