Alone

"Lo!  The hour is coming and has come, that you should be scattered, each to his own, and you may be leaving Me alone.  And I am not alone, for the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have affliction, but courage!  I have conquered the world."

John 16: 32-33, Concordant New Testament

I have to admit, I'm a fan of a few of the survival television series that have popped up over the past few years.  These competitions usually pit a small group of ordinary people against the pitfalls of mother nature.  These participants are left on their own in some remote location, forcing them to fend for themselves be it by hunting, fishing and/or gathering.  To make matters even more interesting, sometimes the participants are allowed only certain items into their environment.  I've often wondered just how many professed die-hard hunters would actually survive a week in such conditions.  I've done a bit of hunting and fishing myself, yet I feel that I would be out of my league on this one.  Have you ever felt truly alone?  I know I have.  There has been many a time and circumstance in my life where I have felt as if I was fighting the battle on my own.  I've also heard many a confession from those I know of how alone they felt as they endured a stressful situation.  A coworker who battled a covid infection recently shared with me that as he recovered in the hospital, even in the presence of all of those doctors and medical staff, that he felt as if he was alone and that nobody could help him.  I can say from personal experience that feeling like this is not a good place to be.  All too often, it leads to depression and feelings of low self worth.  Yet do we really need to feel this way?  When we agonize over being alone...are we truly alone?  Are there times in our lives when even God has abandoned us?  Remember, it is God who has promised that He would NEVER leave us {Deut 31:6, 1 John 4:8}.  Still, I continue to hear many a Christian profess that they are wise as they proclaim that our heavenly Father abandoned Jesus on that cross.  I beg to differ.  

At me first defense no one came along with me, but all forsook me.  May it not be reckoned against them!  Yet the Lord stood beside me, and He invigorates me, that through me the heralding may be fully discharged, and all the nations should hear; and I am rescued out of the mouth of the lion.

2 Timothy 4: 16-17, Concordant New Testament

For the novice fans, I will let you in on a little secret about those survival shows.  It might look like they are indeed alone, but they're not.  Out of the cameras view are producers and camera operators documenting the action.  Why do I mention this?  No, I'm not trying to spoil future episodes but to illustrate a point.  The television viewer does not see the support staff off camera as the episode airs.  But trust me, they're there.  Along those same lines, in our own times of feeling alone and abandoned, we are never really alone.  We can take heart of the words of the apostle Paul as he tells of his times in a Roman prison.  Paul tells of how he was abandoned by his friends during this time.  Left to face his fate alone.  But he wasn't alone.  As Paul tells it, it is the Lord who never abandoned him in his time of need {2 Timothy 4:17}.  Indeed, we have more than a few examples of how the Lord has protected His children.  From the great flood to three men in a furnace and Daniel in the lions den.  The Lord God has made a habit of fighting for and defending His children.  When we feel alone at our lowest point, it is our heavenly Father who is behind the scenes working each and every situation we face unto His desired outcome.  Of this we can be assured.  But what of those who will claim that it is God who abandoned His one and only Son on a Roman cross?  I see no scriptural evidence of this.  What I do see is Jesus on that cross coming to the realization that something has changed.  He no longer feels the union life He has had with the Father.  Jesus now feels...alone.  Unsure of this feeling, He reacts, ""Eloi! Eloi! Lema sabachthani?"  Jesus cries out, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Of course, God had never forsaken His one and only Son.  He has also never forsaken His children He loves.  There are times when we feel alone and forsaken, but God is always there behind the scenes.  

Now about the ninth hour Jesus exclaims with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi! Eloi! Lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God! My God!  Why didst Thou forsake Me?

Matthew 27: 46, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~