One Away From Lonely

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6

I was sitting in the lunch room, eating my pb ‘n’ j sandwich and reading my Bible, when a co-worker sat down beside me. “What are you reading?” she asked.

I was reading Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a passage the Jewish people refer to as the “Shema”. I explained to her that they have been reciting these verses as a prayer every morning and evening for thousands of years. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she burst into tears! She began sobbing as though her heart was broken. The manager of the business came in and angrily wanted to know what I had done to the girl. I protested that I had done nothing! He sent me out of the room and about half an hour later, ordered me to never talk about religion at work again.

I later discovered that as she had realized how old that prayer was, and the image of generation after generation of Jews praying the same thing twice a day flooded into her mind, and the feeling of being small and insignificant overwhelmed her. She had broken down when faced with her own mortality.

As our society has become more and more reliant on technology it has become increasingly lonely. The television that was meant to unite us with the world has caused us all to sit alone staring at a flickering screen. The television, rather than uniting us with our loved ones, has brought a siege of telemarketers. The internet, rather than forming a unifying web of liberating information and flow of conversation, has brought a deluge of pornography and insanity. We struggle through our days, overwhelmed with information and “underwhelmed” with relationships. Where a few decades ago, we had many friends, most of us are down to one. We are one friend away from being alone.

But God invites you to a real, meaningful and healthy relationship. Paul encourages, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6). He echoes God’s words to Joshua, "The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Joshua 1:5)

You may feel alone, but you are not. You may look around and see no one, but that is because He is invisible. Circumstances may crush and all other humans may leave, but God promises that you are always one away from lonely.