Never Alone!
Have you ever had the feeling that there was no one you could count on, or that you were all alone in life? If you’ve lived long enough, you have probably had friends that you thought would be around forever, or at least the rest of your life. Those friends talked like they cared about you and would have your back whenever you needed them. But something happened. Maybe, you had a disagreement, or even a full blown argument. And they’re gone!
Or, perhaps, you may get a new job that calls you out of the area. Of course, you both promised to keep up with one another. You promised to call, write or text. But life gets in the way, and after a while you lose track of the person that may have been your best friend earlier in life. Time moves on and, before you know it, it has been 10 or more years since you even talked with them. And one day you wake up and ask yourself: “What ever happened to my friend.?” “Is he even still alive?”
Then there are the fair weather friends. They are there when times are good. However, don’t let something tragic happen to you, because you will find no trace of them at your lowest moments in life.
And if any of you has a childhood friend or sweetheart that you still see and you are there for each other, then count yourself among those who are truly blessed in this life. But, at the same time, don’t take that relationship for granted. For nothing on this earth lasts forever, and even the best of friends have to face a separation. One of you will be the first to die, and will leave the other behind to grieve and remember how it was. Show your appreciation to these special people now, for they are a gift from God.
But there is one wonderful friend that you can count on for this life and forever. That person is the Lord, our God. In the book of Hebrews, the writer tells us to:
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).
This promise is found in more than one place in the Old Testament. The first of which was made when Moses was about to die and he was encouraging the people to continue into the promised land in obedience to the Lord, even though Moses, himself couldn’t go. Joshua would go on to lead them (Deuteronomy 31:1-6).
We find it again in Joshua 1:5 where God is encouraging Joshua after the death of Moses to lead the people of Israel. He says:
“No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And again in I Chronicles 28:20 when David encourages his son Solomon to continue with the work of building the temple that David wasn’t allowed by God to accomplish. The Lord would be with Solomon as he was with David. He would never leave or forsake him.
The writer of Hebrews takes these Old Testament promises and applies them to the believers of his day. And those same promises can be applied to God’s people in the 21st century.
Paul put it in a more poetic form in Romans 8:38,39 when he wrote:
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So, no matter what you may be facing today, or who may have abandoned you, if you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are never alone! He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).
Therefore, be courageous today. Your friend is with you. And he will be with you to the end of this life, and into eternity! What a friend we have in Jesus!!