Rooting OUr Identity In Christ: Not Alone

Loneliness has become an epidemic in our society. The more technology and resources that we develop to stay connected with others, the worse the feelings of loneliness seem to become. Despite having access to friends and family at our fingertips, in many ways we seem to be feeling more alone and isolated than ever before.

This isn’t just a wide-spread issue. It’s often a very personal one. Have you ever been in a crowd of people and felt alone? Or maybe you are literally alone at times and feel abandoned or neglected by others. Maybe you have lost someone close to you, or feel like you’ve never found “your person”.  Whatever this looks like in your life, we all struggle with feeling alone at times. But sometimes, feelings lie.

Sometimes our feelings of loneliness might be a healthy prompting from our emotions to reach out or to look for others who feel alone, but all too often those feelings and the thoughts that follow get twisted in unhealthy ways. When Paul was encouraging the Ephesians to take up the armor of God he said that they needed to:

“…stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places…in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 11b-12,16)

I am convinced that these “flaming arrows” come from the one known as the Deceiver during times we are feeling weak and struggling. The feelings of loneliness hit us and instead of allowing those feelings to guide us to connection, we get tangled up in the twisted lies that are whispered to us. The lies that tell us it’s our fault that we are alone. The lies that tell us that something is wrong with us or we’re not good enough and that is why we are alone. Whatever the particular deception that has tangled us up., we get untangled by destroying the lie with God’s truth.

So when we feel like we are alone, what is the truth?

“You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”
(Isaiah 41:9-10)

There are numerous verses in the Bible that remind us that God is with us and won’t leave us, but this is one of my favorites. In these two powerful verses we are reminded of so much. He chooses us. He doesn’t reject us. He is with us. He is our God. He strengthens us. He helps us. He upholds us.

Even when we know this truth, the Deceiver will still at times try to shake us and make us doubt. “Is that what God really meant?” “Will God really do that?”

To answer those we go back to Scripture again. Back in Exodus, when God was first teaching the Israelites about who He is, it says:

“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,’” (Exodus 34:6 ESV)

While God explains His character to the Israelites in this verse, we see these aspects of His character demonstrated and spoken about all throughout Scripture. He is steadfast, or unmoving, unchanging, in His love for you and me. He is also faithful. He does what He says He will do. That means we can trust Him. When He says He is with us, He is and He will be. All of the promises in Isaiah 41:9-10 we can count on because God is faithful and abounding in steadfast love.

So when feelings of loneliness start invading our hearts and heads, we can know that we are not alone because God is faithful!

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