He knows what it means to feel alone.
Even as He was positioned high on a cross between two criminals, a battered and bloody focal point of the crowd below Him, He experienced the depths of loneliness and isolation.
It wasn’t just the feeling and the hurt for Him either…it was the whole world around Him. As the sins of every human soul in creation flowed and covered Him…as it created an image and reality that not even God could look at or be in the presence of…scripture says that in the middle of the day, the skies and lands around Him became dark and black (Matthew 27:45).
Jesus was living out complete and total void for the first time in His existence.
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” He cried out.
This means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
It was real…Jesus was alone and no doubt He felt that fact.
Just like at some point I’m sure, we all have felt the painful threads of loneliness. And as if some kind of cruel joke, this state of mind only intensifies more during the holiday season.
The scenarios are limitless so I won’t even take the time to list them, but I know that some of you reading these words today can identify with what I’m saying. You feel alone…rejected…isolated…by yourself.
It sucks and it can be suffocating if we let it define us…if we let it take control and plant roots.
But there’s a difference between what Christ endured and what we do. And that difference is the fact that Christ, while up on the cross, truly was alone. Because of the sin that He carried for us all, God could not be in the presence of His own Son at that time. But we are blessed that we don’t have to endure a life separated from God…a life alone.
Now don’t get me wrong and please don’t get annoyed with me. I’m not trying to lessen the reality of what you may be feeling, because I’m feeling it too…but what I am telling you is that you are not alone…and you have a choice in this thing. It’s not an easy choice or even a “go to” choice for most of us. The weight of forcing a smile during the holidays while in the midst of our friends and family…the weight of trying to act like everything is okay is exhausting…and sometimes it truly is more than we can take. But I want you to realize it’s not about forced smiles and fake attitudes….no, it’s about our focus during this time. And it’s that focus that will help us get through these holidays not feeling totally down because we feel alone.
Focus on what Christ came and died for…focus on your family and friends…focus on serving others. The cool thing is these things don’t mask our pain…they actually heal it and allow us to walk in it and not be burned. We’re not where Christ was on that cross…we’re not alone. Instead a God that knows exactly how we feel is simply waiting for us to open up and let Him in.
So as we walk through these holidays lets strive for a different frame of mind…a mind and process not inwardly focused but instead outwardly purposed. This focus will help us from feeling totally cut when someone tells us, “God must want you to be in a season of singleness right now.” Yeah, that falls on my ears just like it does on yours.
Yes, we may be single or feel alone…but we’re not. At some point we have to fight back against the thoughts that make us want to think we’re alone. We have to fight.
We’re never more beautiful or purposed…then when we make a stand.
