One of the things that hit me pretty hard in the past few weeks is that we all have times when we feel like the world is crashing around us. It’s honestly quite hard when that happens, and it is even harder when we feel all alone in the process. Sometimes calling a friend helps us get back on track, and that’s something I highly recommend (provided the friend is loving, supportive, and kind). But what do we do when we feel all alone? I’m not talking about lonely—feeling like there’s no one around us—but alone, like no one is out there and we are in it for ourselves?
The best cure for being alone is to learn to experience the truth that we are never alone.
Jesus said and did a lot of really strange stuff. Really though, he did, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. I mean, who goes and tells people to literally eat his body? Or that he is bread? Who goes and sticks spit-mud into someone’s eye so they can see better? Who expects to find fruit on fruit trees when it isn’t fruit-season, and then curses them when they don’t make fruit? Jesus did all of that, and more. And yet, in spite of all of the strange things He did, His followers have grown from an initial twelve to what amount to billions over the past couple thousand years. If we can learn anything from the odd things Jesus said, it’s that He said them for a reason and that He said all of them because he meant each and every single thing he said.
Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” While Jesus didn’t say that Himself, He is God, which means Jesus will never leave or forsake us. But there is something Jesus said that is pretty similar, and I think it is important that we pay attention. In John 14-16 he was talking to His disciples about important things surrounding his death and resurrection, and had words of wisdom for them to continue on after he was no longer with them in person. During this time, Jesus said something of note:
In John 14:16-17 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” Again in John 16:7 he said, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Jesus was pretty adamant that we would never be alone, and the Holy Spirit literally lives both with us and in us at all times. It can be difficult to accept this truth at times, especially when everything is going wrong and we feel completely alone. However, I think it is important for us to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit so that even when we feel alone we can experience His presence around us and encounter the never-alone that Jesus promised us.
It can be really hard when we feel all alone to spend time with an invisible God and have that feel comforting in some way. But when we build a habit of spending time with Him and we actually develop a friendship with Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14), we don’t have to feel alone anymore. A few ways to do this are through something called Soaking Prayer, Resting in His Presence, or a similar means of encountering God called Contemplative Prayer. I highly encourage spending time learning to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit in general, but especially for those times when we feel alone, He is always with us.
(Note: If you truly feel hopeless, alone and are at the point you want to hurt or harm yourself in some way, or even end your life, please call the national suicide helpline—1-800-273-8255. Someone is there to talk to you and help you through the tough time you are having. No matter how bad things feel or seem, there is always hope, and things can always get better. www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org)
