Alone

Ecclesiastes 4:1
“So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.”

Have you ever felt that you were all alone and that nobody was there for you? The worst feeling in the world is to look around and not see anyone standing with you. Sometimes, the feeling of being alone is a self-pity feeling that nobody understands, and then at other times, the feeling of being alone is real. No matter why you feel alone, the fact that you feel alone is a real feeling with which you must deal. In the Scriptures, I find there are four times when people feel alone.

The first time is found in the verse above when it is said, “…but they had no comforter.” Oh, the need for comfort when you are going through tough times is a great need. It is sad that anyone would ever say that they had no comforter.

The second time that someone felt alone is in Psalm 142:4 where it says, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” The psalmist bemoaned that “no man cared” for his soul. Have you ever been there when you felt that nobody cared about you? Indeed, this is a real feeling of being alone.

The third time that someone felt alone is when Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:16, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me…” At one of the darkest hours of Paul’s life, he felt that nobody stood with him. After all he did to help people, he felt that he stood alone to face the hardships of his life. If you have ever gone through battles, you have most certainly felt the feeling of standing alone.

The fourth time that someone felt alone was when “all the disciples forsook” Jesus in Matthew 26:56. After three years of investing in the lives of the disciples, Jesus was left alone to face the payment of eternity for the whole world.

My friend, do you find yourself in any of these situations? Let me remind you that you are not alone. When Paul felt like he stood alone, he found that the LORD stood with him. You may feel alone, but you must remember that the LORD is the “friend that sticketh closer than a brother” in Proverbs 18:24. When all else fails, you must remember that God promised to never “leave thee, nor forsake thee” in Hebrews 13:5. The feeling of being alone with whatever you face is a direct result of being self-focused. Being self-focused keeps you from seeing a God who never forsakes you. My friend, it doesn’t matter how alone you feel, you have the promises of God that you are not alone.

Moreover, nobody should ever feel that they are alone if you are their friend. The best time to be a friend to someone is when they are going through tough times in their lives. Being a friend to the one who is going through battles should not be a difficult thing to do. Just because everyone else has forsaken your friend doesn’t mean you should stand silently by in fear of what others will say about you when your friend is in the battle of their life. God doesn’t just stand with the believer in the good times of their life, but He stands with them through ALL times of their life. The best thing that could ever be said about you is that you stood with your friends when everyone else forsook them.

Author: Allen Domelle