Originally published on The Electric Gospel on March 4, 2016.
Never alone
by Miriam Willitz
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:20
Have you ever felt alone? I’m sure we all have at some time in our lives. There are many reasons that we can feel alone. Maybe there has been a time when you were in a fight with a spouse or other family member and you didn’t talk for a while and you felt all alone. When we have to make big decisions that will make a lasting impact on us, we sometimes feel alone. I had a teacher in high school that we all called Dr. Z. He was married to his wife for more than forty years, and she died very suddenly not long ago. We cannot even begin to imagine the kind of loneliness Dr. Z is going through right now without his lifelong companion.
People often feel lonely because they are Christian. They feel as though they are the only Christian in a whole world of unbelievers. That may seem true, even though it’s not. Jesus is with us always.
When Jesus promised to be with his disciples always, he was about to go up into heaven. Jesus had been with them for three years, teaching them all that they needed to know. Every day for those years he constantly had been there with them, and now he was going back to where he’d been, and he wouldn’t be physically present with them anymore. Try to imagine how alone they felt without Jesus there with them. They watched him disappear from their sight, but Jesus gave them this great promise: that he would always be there with them, till the very end to time. And along with that promise, he gave them a mission—to go out and tell the whole earth about how he’d died to take away the sins of all people (cf. Mark 16:15). And his authority and his Spirit would accompany them in that mission (cf. Matthew 28:18, John 16:7-15).
We, like the disciples, have that same promise and the same mission. We feel lonely because we are sinful and weak, but our Savior Jesus is perfect and strong and has promised that his presence will always be with us, to the very end of time. This word from our Lord is so comforting because—in all situations where we have to make decisions and choices on our own—we know that Jesus is always there with us, helping us through and guiding us. When a loved one dies, someone who has always been close to us, we can be reassured that Jesus is still here with us to help us, as well as being in heaven to welcome that loved one home to him in faith. Jesus is the perfect companion, who came to earth to suffer and die in our place, to pay for our wrongs. He rose again, victorious over death and the grave. And now in heaven, he is with us, protecting us. He is giving us the Holy Spirit to be in our hearts always to comfort and encourage us. And he gives us the privilege of sharing his message with others as our life’s mission.
Praise God! Jesus is with us!
Prayer:
Dearest Jesus, thank you for all that you have done for us. Thank you for enduring the cruel death on Calvary and for rising from death. Thank you for always being there for us when we feel lonely and even when we don’t. Strengthen us as we continue as missionaries for your name. Amen.
