Alone, Yet Not Alone
“Do you now believe?” Jesus asked his disciples. “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone” (John 16:31-32).
They had reclined in the upper room to observe the Passover with Jesus as “friends” (John 15:15). Between the upper room and the Garden of Gethsemane, they became more than a little confused. “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’?” (John 16:17). Before the night was over, they would flee that garden as fugitives, forsaking their Shepherd, scattering into the shadows, and Jesus would be left alone.
“Yet,” he continued in John 16:32, “I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Alone, yet not alone. What a powerful idea…
Jesus was betrayed, yet not betrayed, for the Father was him.
Jesus was abandoned, yet not abandoned, for the Father was with him.
Jesus was denied, yet not denied, for the Father was with him.
Jesus was killed, and yet he lives, for the Father was with him.
The apostle Paul speaks in similar terms in his second letter to the Corinthians:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies… So we do not lose heart… (2 Cor 4:7-10, 16)
…and you shouldn’t either, for the Father is with you. Walk in the light as he is in the light and the sands of popular culture may shift beneath you, but you can stand steadfast, for the Father is with you. Though life on earth be shaken, your expectations give way, and the mountains of all you’ve ever known be moved into the heart of the sea, you can remain immovable, for the Father is with you. You may not be able to do everything you’d like to do in the present or capable of doing what you once did in the past, but you can continue to abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that in him your labor is not in vain, for the Father is with you.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:16-18)
Whatever today holds, whatever tomorrow brings, look past the things that are seen to the things that are unseen. We do not lose heart, for the Father is with us. In this moment, despite uncertainty, through hardship and affliction, into glory, for eternity. Jesus has shown us the way, told us the truth, and given his life.
“For the Father is with me.”
If I walk in the pathway of duty,
If I work till the close of the day,
I shall see the great King in His beauty,
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
If for Christ I proclaim the glad story,
If I seek for the sheep gone astray,
I am sure He will show me His glory,
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
Here the dearest of ties we must sever,
Tears of sorrow are seen every day;
But no sickness, no sighing forever,
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
And if here I have earnestly striven,
And have tried all His will to obey,
‘Twill enhance all the rapture of heaven,
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way,
I will rest at the close of the day,
And I know there are joys that await me,
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
– Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1908)
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Loneliness should never be a concern or affliction for followers of the Lord. Thanks for pointing the way to the world.