No, Never Alone
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
One of the worst feelings a person can have is that of being alone. I will tell you that story because I understood it back when I was kind of a geek. I was not popular then, and I was never really ‘the cool kid.’ As I got older, I stopped worrying about those things. Then, people started to notice me in a positive light, and suddenly, I was popular. My struggles became very different. I struggled because I felt I had to be a certain way to stay popular to everyone that knew me. I started to lose who I authentically was. This was nothing to be proud of, but through it all, there were certain constants that kept me centered. First, I grew to know who God was. Even though I was nowhere near where He would have wanted me to be to start, He kept me going down the path. Second, He loved me. When I struggled to find love and know who truly loved me, I discovered He always did. Finally, He showed me grace. When I did not think I was enough, He always was until I felt Him within me. I find it funny because just as I was reading about one devotion reminding me of a childhood hymnal (Leaning On The Everlasting Arm), today, I’m writing about how God never leaves us alone, and the chorus of another childhood hymnal comes to mind:
No never alone! No, never alone!
He promised never to leave me, Never to leave me alone.
God is there for us even when we did not know He was there. As I read the closing of Matthew and what we know as ‘The Great Commission,’ we of course focus on the task at hand. However, we tend to forget that in carrying out this task, Jesus spoke clearly He would be with us. It seems like a recurring theme throughout the Bible. First, with Abraham’s son, He vowed to be with Isaac because of His promise to Abraham (I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.” Genesis 26:24b). Through Moses (God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you.” Exodus 3:12a) to today’s verses, God consistently proved He was with His people to ensure His will was done. Why is this important to know? A couple of things.
First, God always starts by instructing us to do His will, and it is usually not something easy. Thus, what He asks involves our growth spiritually. No one ever recalls a conversation with God ending with us saying, “God, you want me to do the easy thing, right?” Shola Richards, an author, gave an analogy from his father, who told him to be the buffalo and not the cow. What does this mean with respect to spiritual growth? You see, he explained, the cow when it sees a storm instinctively runs away from it. It thus prolongs the agony. However, the buffalo runs into the storm. Thus, it not only shortens the time of the storm but also because it did what was hard, it learns from the experience.
The second part of understanding the importance of God’s presence is we learn of the blessings earned through doing His will. Abraham and Moses became chosen men of God. Joshua led the people into the promised land, and Peter, who denied Jesus, was gifted with the Holy Spirit. All were given greater authority by simply doing what God asked of them. None of it was easy, and it required great trust in what God had told them. Thus, they all received a blessing greater than what they went into when God initially asked them. Sure, God could have chosen others, but He chose each of them, and they followed through successfully. It’s easy to understand that we should trust God when He asks for us to do things even when we ourselves may not see the end result today.
Life is hard, but God never fails. Even when we are unsure of the result, we must both trust God’s vision for our lives and what He asks of us. It will probably sound silly to others and maybe even yourself, but if you trust Him, He not only delivers but He also delivers in abundance. So even if you may need to ‘go it alone,’ know God will be with you every step of the way. What major task is God prompting you to do today? How can you maintain your determination to do God’s work when it seems so hard? My prayer that we remember that God is with us and promises never to leave us alone. Amen.
Contribution to ‘The Hope Fellowship’ by Kent Williams