We Are Never Alone
(Exhortation - April 2003)
All of us feel alone at times. There are various ways one can feel alone. We may live alone. We may feel alone at work, at school or in our ecclesia. We may feel alone at home if we are surrounded by disagreement.
We are not the only ones in the history of God’s chosen people to feel this way. It has never been and probably never will be the majority who stands up for what is right. Those throughout the ages who have followed God’s commands have learned this difficult lesson. If we are light stands in this dark world we also will learn it. “I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John l5:l9).
When we look to God’s word for examples of those who walked alone, Job, Joseph, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, among others, come to mind. It is Paul, Timothy and Christ, however, that we would like to consider at this time. When did they feel alone and how did they deal with it?
How Paul coped
Second Timothy is possibly Paul’s last epistle. In chapter one, it is clear
that Paul is in Rome and in chains. It is about 65 A.D.; the fire of Rome,
blamed on the Christians by Nero, has taken place. In II Timothy 1:12, Paul
exhorts Timothy not to be ashamed of the “testimony of the Lord, nor of
Paul his prisoner.” Paul was aware that God was in control and he was
not just the prisoner of Nero, but of Christ. The apostle had been in front
of the emperor’s tribunal once before, and he knew this would be his last
time. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is
at hand” (II Tim. 4:6).
Paul appeals earnestly for Timothy to “diligently” come quickly, probably from Ephesus where he had left him, to Rome (II Tim. 4:9,21). Second Timothy is a warm-hearted, personal letter, the testimony of a father to his “dearly beloved son” in the faith, full of trust, hope and concern (II Tim. 1:2). Yet it is also written by a man under a death sentence who felt abandoned.
Often when we feel alone, it is because we feel the rest of the world has somebody else and we have no one. It could be that we are single and it seems like the majority of others are married. Perhaps we are married but everyone else’s husband or wife seems more committed than ours. Maybe we have been widowed or put off by close friends and family. We might feel like everyone in our ecclesia has a close companion, and we have no one. Paul felt the same way. In II Timothy 1:15 Paul says all in Asia had turned away from him including Phygellus and Hermogenes. In the next chapter we find Hymanaeus and Philetus were leading people astray (II Tim. 2:16-18). Then there was Demas, once close to Paul (Col. 4:14), who left him “having loved this present world” (II Tim. 4:4). Sometimes we feel most alone when our friends in the Truth turn away from us or let us down.
Paul looked to
forerunners
Although Paul was almost completely alone in Rome, he took strength from
biblical characters who had been in similar circumstances. In II Timothy
3:8 we read of Moses who, from the very beginning, was deserted by his own
people. They were angry when Pharaoh made their burdens heavier. They
murmured constantly in the wilderness. Even Aaron turned away by setting up
the golden calf, and Miriam spoke against his wife. Moses was a man who
knew what it was like to be alone.
In II Timothy 4:16, Paul alludes to the words of another martyr. Speaking about his first time before the emperor’s tribunal, he says all men forsook him and he prayed to God it “may not be laid to their charge.” Paul had heard these words before. Prior to becoming the apostle to the Gentiles he was Saul, persecutor of the Christians. He assuredly heard many pleas for help when people would beg for the lives of their families, but one phrase stood out in his mind for the rest of his life. As Stephen lay dying he cried, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:60). While his own people stoned him to death, Stephen knew how to maintain a Christ-like attitude toward those who deserted him.
There is one final someone who stood alone, one who Paul ultimately turned to in his times of loneliness. When all men forsook Paul, he says “notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (II Tim. 4:16,17). Paul makes reference to being delivered from the mouth of the lion (II Tim. 4:17). Daniel should come to mind. The words of a children’s song declare, “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, and dare to make it known.” Paul had a purpose that “the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear” (II Tim. 4:17). We see that Paul was not alone but that “ the Lord stood with him.” And so it is for us.
Encouragement to
Timothy
Why was Paul so intent on conveying this message to Timothy? Timothy was to
be alone at Ephesus in some very difficult circumstances. When we are alone
we must remember to hold fast to what is right. Timothy was to hold fast
the “form of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13; 2:2,14,15). He would be
challenged to continue in the things which he had learned for the time would
come when others would “not endure sound doctrine” (II Tim.
3:1-15;4:3,4).
The word for “sound” is used fourteen times in the epistles to Timothy and Titus. This Greek word for “sound” is the origin of our word hygiene and it actually means to be healthy. It is the same word used when Christ healed someone and “they were made whole that had been sick” (Luke 7:10). It is also found in the parable of the prodigal son when the son was returned “safe and sound” (Luke 15:27). This is in opposition to the word “canker” in II Timothy 2:17. The word “canker” actually connotes gangrene and is the Greek word gangraina. Gangrene is the total loss of blood to a region resulting in death and eventual amputation. What a contrast to good, sound health. The medical terms are not surprising, as Luke, a physician, was the only one with Paul at this time.
We, as Christadelphians, need to stand for sound doctrine and continue in what we have learned. We need to work together as one body serving our Creator. Although working together is the goal, there may be times in our walk, times that seem long to us, when we may feel alone. Paul and Timothy knew that God comforts His servants (II Cor. 1:1-4). When we experience hard times, lonely periods in our life, our comfort may not come from anyone but God. At the end of Paul’s life, God brought him to the realization that he must rely on God, and God alone. God will not fail us. Jesus was brought to the same point at the end of his life.
Our Lord felt alone
Jesus knew what it was like to be alone. He worked to get his disciples to
understand what he had come to accomplish, but they could not accept his
clear words about his death and resurrection. They had a blind spot. We
are the same way. We distance ourselves by not reading our Bible, by not
praying and by not working together. Jesus said to his disciples, “There
are some of you that believe not” (John 6:64). He knew they would
abandon him when he needed them most. He knew Judas would betray him.
Jesus had only his Father on whom to rely.
One of the times Christ felt most alone was in the garden. “Abba, Father…take away this cup from me” (Mark 14:36). It was in the Garden where he was trying to strengthen his disciples for what was ahead. He was in prayer to his Father when events were at their worst. “And he cometh and findeth them sleeping” (Mark 14:37). “And they all forsook him and fled” (Mark 15:50). Christ was alone except for his Father.
When alone, Paul knew God was with him. When deserted, Christ knew the same. Moses, Stephen, Daniel, Jeremiah, Job and John the Baptist all experienced a similar circumstance. Loneliness. They were constantly in prayer. And so must we be if we are to emulate Christ in our walk. Psalm 22 has insight into what Christ was thinking on the cross. “I may look and tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me…Be not far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me…save me from the lion’s mouth…In the midst of the congregation I will praise thee” (vs. 17,19,21,22).
Christ was delivered from the lion’s mouth of death, having humbled himself to his Father’s will. We have the same hope through him if we live a life of repentance when we fail. If when we feel alone we have a mind to pray, God is willing to forgive. But we must be willing to change. May we live a sound life as did Christ, remembering what he, through God’s power, was able to accomplish for our sakes.
Jonathan Perry