Wednesday, June 2, 2021

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

 Psalm 139:8-10

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

                Over this past year, many people have felt the sting of loneliness. Isolated by the pandemic and cut off from their normal social encounters, many people have felt isolated and alone. I can identify with these feelings. I was recently reminded that due to our move to Michigan, coupled with the isolation of the pandemic, we have lost our network of friends and ministry partners.

                There have been several times in my life when I have keenly felt the sting of loneliness. One of those times was when I went on a three-week ministry experience to the Philippines. There were several pastors who signed up for this experience. We were each assigned a different place in which to connect with a Filipino pastor and assist him in his ministry. Once I arrived in the Philippines, I discovered that my assignment had been changed at the last minute. Due to this change, I was delayed in leaving Manilla by one day. At 10:00 PM in the evening I was escorted to the airport by some of our missionaries and put on a plane. I arrived at my destination at 11:00 PM expecting to be met by the pastor. There was no one there to meet me. Soon the airport began to shut down for the night. Before I left Manilla, the missionaries had given me the phone number of the missionary guest house in Cebu, just incase something went wrong. With no other option in sight, I hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the nearest hotel with a phone.

                As I got into the back seat of the taxi, two men also got in with me, one on either side of me. Two other men joined the driver in the front seat. We took off into the dark night with me sandwiched between two strangers, clutching my bag on my lap. We pulled down several back streets, occasionally stopping to let one of the men off. Finally, we drove over a bridge and made our way into Cebu City. Finally, the taxi stopped in front of a hotel. I asked the driver to wait, as I hurried into the hotel to make my phone call. The host at the guest house gave me directions and I returned to the taxi to continue my adventure. Eventually I was deposited at the guest house, exhausted and relieved.

                The next morning, at breakfast, my host asked me to tell my story to the maid who was serving us. I recounted what had happened the night before and a look of shock came over her face. She told me that I was very blessed because that is what bandits do to rob unsuspecting tourists.

                My nighttime drive was only the beginning of my experience. I was driven to my proper destination and introduced to the young pastor and his wife. The next week was one of the loneliest experiences of my life. I was surrounded by people, yet felt utterly alone and abandoned. The pastor didn’t seem to have a plan, and I began to wonder what I was doing there. Before we left Manilla, we had been instructed to allow the Filipino pastor to take the lead. We were there to assist him. That message didn’t reach my pastor. We spend almost a week waiting for the other person to take the lead. Finally, we figured out what was going on, and we were able to begin to work together. But I never fully lost my sense of loneliness, especially lying awake at night in the stifling heat and humidity.

                As I have been able to look back over that experience, I can see that I was never really alone. God was with me all the way. He directed me to that particular island to work along side of that particular pastor. He protected me on my midnight taxi ride. He gave me the strength to deal with the challenges of adapting to a culture very foreign to me. He also gave me the opportunity to share the gospel with a number of people. Because I was there, people were willing to listen to what I and the pastor had to say.

                King David must have felt lonely and abandoned quite often. After he had been anointed by God to be the next king of Israel, King Saul, out of jealousy, tried to kill David. David began a desperate adventure of running for his life, constantly being pursued by a jealous king. In the midst of this, David got his strength from the knowledge that no matter what his circumstances, God was always with him. David rested in the truth that he had not been abandoned by God. God had chosen him to be the next king of Israel and God would see to it that he reached that goal.

                We may not be running for our lives, but we may still feel lonely and abandoned. When we focus on our circumstances, our spirits can fall to painful depths. But if we will lift our eyes and focus on God’s promises, we can find the courage and the strength to both endure and even thrive. God knows all about what is going on in our lives. He is fully aware of what we need. We can trust Him to be our guide and to be our strength.

                Paul echoed David’s thoughts when he wrote about his confidence in the abiding presence of God.

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

                 Both David and Paul assure us that if we place our faith in Christ, we are never truly alone. No matter what our circumstances in life, God has promised to be with us. Over and over again God promises that he will never leave us or abandon us. Our feeling of loneliness is very real, but it is not the entire story. Even when we feel alone, we are not. We can take our loneliness to God and He will embrace us with His love and grace.

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

No comments:

Post a Comment