Never Alone

When I was a child I spent weeks in hospital with a life-threatening illness. My parents drove about 25 miles to sit with me, but I don’t remember them being there as much as I remember being alone, alone in a bed, alone in a room, alone in a stainless steel room hooked up to an IV.

Now I usually don’t mind being alone as I learned to amuse myself in those early days, yet the fear of being abandoned sometimes plagues me. I’ve moved nearly thirty times, which doesn’t help. Once we were introduced to another couple with, “Don’t get to know these people too well for they will be moving soon.”

Today, Chambers addresses what it is like to lose a friend and a mentor, which I have also experienced. While this is not the same as being abandoned, it feels like it. How does God want me or anyone else to face this kind of loss? Elisha is the example and Elijah was his mentor . . .

“And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, ‘My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.” (2 Kings 2:11–12)

Elisha had no hope of seeing his mentor and friend ever again, at least not this side of heaven. His grief was great, a grief that is almost more difficult to face than any other.

Chambers says it isn’t wrong to depend upon a wonderful mentor as long as God gives that mentor to me, but I must remember a time will come when that person will have to go. Like an infant must be weaned, God never intends that His children depend on human support entirely. We might think that we cannot go on without our Elijah but God says we must rely on Him, not make idols out of people.

Chambers uses verses from the context to illustrate this type of experience. He describes events and memories that must not drag us into rehearsing the past, but encourage us to go on.

For Elisha, one of these places was at the Jordan (v. 14) where this separation happened. At first, he had no fellowship with anyone else, and no one who took responsibility for Elijah had been with him many times, but now he was alone. him. It was time use what he learned with Elijah. He could not pull back because reality demanded that he move forward.

For me, if I am to realize that God is God in life’s difficult experiences, I must believe Him to be with me and also must go through my Jordan alone.

For Elisha, another place was Jericho (v. 15). Here he’d seen Elijah do great things. The inclination is to want this again rather than trust that God will provide whatever great things I need to see, experience, or perhaps do myself. I’m to rely on Him instead of a godly mentor. As Chambers suggests, I must not forget that God is with me, even when I feel terribly alone.

The third place was being alone at Bethel (v. 23). Here, Elisha was mocked and jeered. He could have become enraged or filled with fear, but he trusted God, stood against it and God protected him. Whenever I feel alone and badgered (by people or Satan who mocks me often), I also need to stand true to God. He will protect me.

My part is to practice what I learn from the Elijah’s in my life. I must trust in God, pray, and as Chambers says, not look for Elijah any longer. God must wean me from over-dependency on people and I can survive that sense of being abandoned because He has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

He is here, now and always

On the farm where I grew up, we had a few milk cows. When their calves were old enough, they had to be weaned from their mothers. Neither cow nor calf were happy about that process. Both bawled and walked the fence, one on either side. Sometimes their attempts to reunite damaged the fence. However, this process was necessary. Soon the calves fed on their own and the cows went on producing milk for the family.

Sunday I shared with my Bible study class that all my life I felt like God has been weaning me from everything else but Himself. This is not only about sin, but about anything that I depend on apart from Him. The principle behind this weaning is applied here to money:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5–6)

In this culture, money is a god, defining “god” or idol as whatever is relied upon as a source of happiness and well-being. Many think that money will do it all, yet the Bible warns not to love it and not to make it an object of my affection.

I don’t know who said, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and I’d rather be rich,” but I have known both poverty and riches, and have discovered that the presence of God is a more important reality. He produces contentment and His presence is the greatest asset in my life. He helps me in every way so that I need not fear anything because of His promise to be with me.

It isn’t only money. As the verses above say, it is possible to fear what others can do to me. I’ve depended on their approval and acceptance, on the love of family and friends, being understood and useful, and a host of other things. When the tests come and those resources are taken away, I usually bawl like a calf and wander back and forth trying to find a way through this fence that separates me from what I want. Yet God says He is with me. He is enough. At the times of testing I may protest that being weaned is not much fun, yet Jesus is here. He does not let me down. He is with me in all situations, particularly when I obey Him in evangelism and teaching others:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19–20)

This means that if people reject the message (usually by rejecting the messenger), He is with me. Should my teaching fall on deaf ears, He is still with me. By saying these things, He suggests to me that no matter any negative human receptivity, He is enough.

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Lord, the events of these days make me realize that I live in a society that is hostile to truth and to the Gospel. They blame You for their sin, call it by other names, then tell me I am “un-Christian” for not agreeing with them. At times I feel alone and definitely on the other side of a fence. However, You are with me. While I don’t like alienation, this is nothing like what was done to You — You were rejected and abandoned — they even killed You. 

Consider (Jesus) who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:3–4)

Even as I experience the rejection and hostility of others, I recognize that this is because I belong to You. Not only that, You use this for my good, to make me more like Jesus. Instead of fighting back, You want me to lean into Your loving presence and rejoice that You will never leave me or forsake me. 

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