Alone
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John 16:16-32
You will be scattered,
each one going his
own way, leaving Me
alone. Yet I am not alone
because the Father is
with Me (v.32).
I saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook page: “It’s not
that I feel alone because I have no friends. I have lots
of friends. I know that I have people who can hold
me and reassure me and talk to me and care for me and
think of me. But they can’t be inside my head with me all
the time—for all time.”
Loneliness is a reality that all human beings experience
at one time or another. Albert Einstein once said, “It is
strange to be known so universally and yet be so lonely.”
Jesus understands our loneliness. During His earthly
ministry He saw it in the eyes of lepers, heard it in the
voices of the blind, and felt it in the touch of the pressing
masses. But above all, He experienced it when His close
friends deserted Him.
As He foretold the disciples’ desertion, however, He
also confessed His unshaken confidence in His Father’s
abiding presence. He said, “But the time is coming—
indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each
one going his own way, leaving Me alone. Yet I am not
alone because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32).
Jesus knew the ultimate cure for loneliness, and He
shared it with us. He told us that isolation doesn’t need
to lead to loneliness—for we have the abiding presence
of the Father with us. God is eternal and omniscient and
omnipresent. Only He could be with us all the time, for
all time.
After Jesus said His words of comfort to the disciples (v.22), He took up the
cross and the curse of loneliness for us. He made it possible for you and me to
have a restored relationship with God and to be a member of His family—all
the time, for all time. —Poh Fang Chia
more›
Read Isaiah 41:10
to discover God’s
assurance. Read 1 Kings
19:8-15 to see how God
dealt with Elijah when
he felt he was the only
prophet left in Israel.
next›
Who or what do you
normally turn to when
you feel lonely? How
could you learn to
recognize God’s abiding
presence?
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