Joshua 1:9  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Do you know those times when you come face to face with the reality that you are completely, unalterably, decidedly alone in this world?  Yeah, that.  I think every one of us hits this place in our lives- more than once.  It’s a quiet place, a solemn place and sometimes a sad and lonely place.  Other times it can be a place of restoration and solitude- a healing place.

I remember the night my father died.   There was this understanding between he and my mother that this was his time to die and that it was a private affair.  She gave him his alone time with the Lord at the end of his life on earth.  It baffled me.  If it had been me, I thought, I would have not been able to leave his side.  Yet that’s not what happened between the two of them, at all.   I guess if I am honest, it still baffles me but it was their way and they were both at peace with it.

Then there’s a different type of coming to the place of alone.  We find that in this place, nothing satisfies, no one heals us, there is no true safe place with another human being where we can completely, totally be our raw selves and find complete and safe rest.  There’s no one on the contact list.  There’s no one anywhere that can meet us where we need to be met.  This isn’t a cruel joke.  This is as it should be.   It feels awful.  But it’s not. He has allowed it.  It’s in that place where we come face to face with reality.   What is reality?   No one and nothing can replace God.  He is truly the only One, the absolute One, the One that will never leave us or forsake us.  It’s ok if, in that moment, we long for Him to have skin on.  That’s legitimate.  And He will provide that in time I find.  But in this alone place where there is nothing but God and us, we find Christ is all we need.

We don’t know He’s all we need until He’s all we have.

People will reject us.  People will replace us.  People will shock us and amaze us with abandonment, and betrayal.   Yes, people will.  And maybe that’s not always a bad thing. It’s all going to work together for our good.   Can’t God use this tough stuff for good?   I think He’s capable of that.   Does it still hurt?  Well heck yeah it does.  It hurts!   Will we die from being disappointed by someone else’s choices?  Nope, we won’t die.  We must take the time to feel the pain, to put it on the altar, to work through it as best we can, and come to peace once again.   Where is peace found?  In Christ alone.   And maybe that is a lesson, a truth worth hurting over to find deep, deep inside of us.

And this is important-  we must forgive and release those who have facilitated our pain.  We have also done the same to others, no doubt.   Be free.  Set them free, too.   Most people truly do the best they are able.  We must forgive each other.

God will never leave us and God will never forsake us.   And….. this came to pass….it will pass.  In the moment it may feel as though it is never ending. That’s not the truth.  Things evolve. People evolve.   Emotions evolve.  God stays the same.  We must remember that we truly are being witnessed.   God is witnessing our lives.  He’s living in us.   Who could witness us any closer than that?   We matter.  We are loved with an endless and ever present love.  We are not alone. That’s the truth- regardless of how it feels.

Take away:  When the alone times of our lives come, we must choose to embrace the pain, if there is pain, instead of fighting it.   We can make a choice to receive Christ into that place because He’s the one that has allowed no other to be there.    This is not necessarily a bad thing.  It leads us to know that God is with us and He is good and He loves us with a never-ending love. 

Prayer:  Father, thank You that I am never left abandoned and alone because You are always and will always be with me, even until the end of time.    I love that You love me, that You witness my life and that You are there to hold me when I need to be held.    Sometimes I am strongest when I am at my weakest….. because I’m surrendered to You.  Thank you Father.   Thank you so much.  Please make me an instrument of Your peace.