Why Am I Alone?

by Ricky Chelette, Executive Director

We live in a very connected world. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google+, LinkedIn, and Instagram all serve as ways to connect people from around the world through a simple, accessible medium that facilitates connection. In theory, it is an incredible way to foster community, a universal desire of all humans.[1]  But as is often the case, our intentions don’t always result in God’s created intent for us.  Social media postings often result in comparisons against realities that are not real at all. In fact, this constant need to “measure up” and acquire “likes” and “shares” can contribute to deep depression, cyberbullying, and even isolation.[2][3]

Although its authors could not have anticipated the ways our digital world connects us, the bible does speak to the importance of community. In fact, despite Jesus’s intentionality in creating community, He too found himself abandoned in His moment of greatest need.

Read Mark 14:32-51. It records an instance in which Jesus asks three of His disciples, His closest and dearest friends, to join Him for prayer. They eagerly agree only to fail to pray.  Later, when Jesus is betrayed by one of the twelve—Judas, the treasurer of His group—those same friends would quickly abandon Jesus to avoid getting arrested. 

Alone and abandoned, Jesus is lead away to an illegitimate court gathering of men who had already purposed to destroy His life and silence His teachings. Appearing before the religious leaders of His day, Jesus was alone and silent.  The loudest cries in the room were not from friends pleading for his life, but from accusers screaming false accusations against the son of God.

Have you ever felt alone and abandoned? Have you ever trusted deeply in someone only to have them disappoint you? Most of us have. But if we are honest, most of us have also acted in that same manner towards others. We are a fickle and hypocritical people. We need others but often don’t want others to need us – at least not when it is inconvenient for us. 

Praise God that Jesus didn’t respond to humanity the way the disciples responded to Him, nor the way you and I often respond to Jesus. Knowing His mission and sustained by His intimate relationship with the Father, Jesus was willing to be alone so we would never be alone. He was willing to risk His very life, abandoned on a cross, for the redemption of man. He is faithful even when we are not (1 Tim 2:13).  And He has promised He will never leave us or forsake us (Deut. 31:6; Heb. 13:5).

A. W. Tozer talked about the dilemma of aloneness we face as Christians this way:  

What we need very badly in these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For each of us, the time is coming when we shall have nothing but God. Health and wealth and friends and hiding places will be swept away and we shall have only God. To the man of pseudo faith that is a terrifying thought, but to real faith, it is one of the most comforting thoughts the heart can entertain.[4]

There will be times in your Christian life when you will be asked to stand firm for God’s truth. These moments will not be easy and may result in being alienated from others, even family and friends.  Are you willing to follow Jesus when others won’t? Are you ready to pursue truth in all aspects of your life even when there is no one to applaud you or encourage you? Are you willing to trust Jesus even when others “unfriend” you, don’t “like” your posts, or choose to stop “following” you?  Is Jesus really enough?

If He is, then we must cling to the truth that, as followers of Jesus, we are never alone. There may be times when others choose not to stand with us, but Jesus will stand with us. God’s presence is as near as our breath (Ps 145:8). Call upon Him in those moments when you feel isolated and alone. If He is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31) 

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[1]Matthew D. Lieberman, Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, Crown: 2013.

[2]Suren Ramasubbu, “Influence of Social Media on Teenagers,” The Huffington Post, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/suren-ramasubbu/influence-of-social-media-on-teenagers_b_7427740.html

[3]Katie Hurley, “Social Media and Teen Mental Health,” Psycom, https://www.psycom.net/social-media-teen-mental-health

[4]A.W. Tozer, On the Almighty God, Complied by Ron Eggert, Moody: 2015, September 30.

He is Worthy

by Robert Jacobs

As some of you may have seen, the theme for the 2018 Living Hope Celebration Banquet is “He is Worthy.” A powerful statement about the worth of Christ, the theme highlights the incomparable praiseworthiness of Jesus and, in turn, the immense cost of His sacrifice.  As I spent time meditating on the worthiness of Christ and the great price of salvation, I could not help but also think about the cost of following Jesus. 

Now, I’m not saying that we must pay for our salvation through good works or the like. Scripture makes it clear that salvation is a “free gift of God” (Rom 6:23). Yet repeatedly throughout the gospels, Jesus shows us that there is a great cost to following Him. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes following Christ as an endless battle: “When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.”

When I was younger in my faith, I would have said that Bonhoeffer was simply exaggerating, that this quote was merely a byproduct of living in the oppressive environment of World War II Germany. However, as I have grown with Christ, I have found that when we truly follow Him we will indeed experience great struggle. Yet in this struggle, we can all resoundingly cry, He is Worthy!

This is precisely what we see in John 9 through the healing of the man born blind. In the first part of the chapter, Jesus heals a man who was “blind from birth” (John 9:1). After he is healed, a great controversy forms around the man. Debating about where the power for such a miracle could come from, the Pharisees question the man over and over about what happened. Each time he is asked, the man testified that Jesus was the one who healed him. 

Frustrated by this response, the Pharisees tracked down the man’s parents to ask if he was indeed born blind and, if so, who healed him. Refusing to testify about what Jesus had done for their son, the parents simply replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself” (John 9:21-22). John tells us that the reason they refused to testify about Jesus was because doing so would come with a great cost, being kicked out of the synagogue. Refusing to deny Jesus himself, the man continued to tell them what Jesus had done for him until he suffered the fate that his parents feared (John 9:34). 

After hearing that the man had been put out of the synagogue for testifying about Him, Jesus sought him out and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” To which the man replied that he did, worshiping Jesus in that very moment. 

The conclusion of this story always moves me when I read it. After losing arguably one of the most important connections in his life—his place in the synagogue—for testifying to all that Jesus had done for him, the man still sees Jesus as completely worthy of worship.  The question for us is do we see Jesus as worthy? 

I know that most of us would be shocked if someone asked us if we thought Jesus was worthy. We might even be a little insulted by the question. But when was the last time you testified to how Jesus transformed your life? Have you spoken about Jesus even when it could have cost you everything? You may say that he is worthy, but do your actions—like those of the man born blind— line up with that statement?

As you read over John 9 yourself (and I would suggest that you do), think about what Jesus has done for you and how you can testify about him. Be forewarned though, following Jesus is a costly endeavor. Yet despite this high cost, He is still immeasurably worthy. 

Dependable Friends

by Ricky Chelette, Executive Director

Everyone wants great friends. There are volumes of books written on how to get friends, keep friends, and set appropriate boundaries in friendships. Friendships add meaning to our lives, and recent research indicates that friendships can even increase your lifespan.[1]

But what happens when friendships don't go as you hoped, when your friends let you down, stand you up, forget about important commitments, or even betray your trust? 

One of the many things I love about God's Word is its ability to portray life as it is. We see the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the faithful and the unfaithful. The Bible gives us examples of great friendships like David and Jonathan, Naomi and Ruth, and Paul and Barnabas, to name a few. But the Bible also records some problematic friendships like Paul and John Mark, or Job and his friends.  

Even those most connected to Jesus, the Savior of the World, had a difficult time with friendships. Honestly, it is hard for me to believe that Jesus' chosen twelve would ever have doubts about Him or misgivings regarding their devotion to Him. He had performed miracles in their presence, raised the dead, and fed thousands with little more than a single person's meal. Yet when faced with personal threats to their lives and futures, they abandoned their closest friend. 

In Mark 14:32-42, we see one of the most intimate friendships between Jesus and His disciples. This group of twelve men from various backgrounds and social strata, now narrowed to his three closest disciples - Peter, James, and John, demonstrate that friendships are not easy, even when connected to the only perfect person who ever lived!

In Mark 14, we find out that Jesus has been betrayed by one of His disciples, Judas, and is about to be arrested. Jesus is fully aware that the events which are unfolding are a fulfillment of all that has been prophesized about Him in the Old Testament and will eventuate in His torturous death on a Roman cross.  Experiencing the fullness of His humanity, Jesus becomes overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. He asks Peter, James, and John to join Him as he seeks the Father in prayer. They have all had a long day and the night is coming to an end, but Jesus asks the three to pray and watch with Him as He journeys a short distance from them to pray Himself.  Three times Jesus comes back to his disciples and three times He finds them sleeping, unable to stay awake for even a short time as He has requested.  He finally acknowledges that their spirit is willing, but their flesh is too weak (Mk. 14:38). 

Have you ever been in a situation where you depended on your friends to care, to be aware, to “watch and pray,” only to find they did nothing? Have you ever depended on someone to come through for you or be there when you needed them, only to discover they forgot, made other plans or something else just came up? I have, and I can’t help but imagine the disappointment in the heart of Jesus when those who had known Him best seemed to love Him least. 

What can we learn from this single scene in the passion narrative?  People are sinners and naturally inclined towards self-preservation and comfort over sacrifice and devotion. Though we need people in our lives, they can never be the source of our life. In our moments of greatest need and most profound despair, people can let us down. Jesus indeed experienced this with His disciples then, and with each believer today. 

How many times do we choose our comforts over our devotion to Christ? How often do we cave to the cravings of our flesh when Jesus has asked us to “watch and pray?” 

Friendships are hard because they involve sinful people trying to live life relationally and holy. But friendship with Jesus is different. Unlike other friends, Jesus is the ONE friend who will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5, Matt 28:20) and is a true friend of sinners (Matt 11:16-19, Lk 5:32). 

Like Jesus, you may have experienced broken friendships, betrayals, and even hurt from those in whom you have most deeply invested.  Don’t lose hope in humanity. God is still at work in each of us just as He was in the lives of His disciples. Eventually, they would see Jesus for who He really is. Eventually, they would impact the world for Christ because of their friendship with Jesus. Put your trust in Jesus. He will not disappoint (Rom 5:5).

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[1]https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/the-health-benefits-of-strong-relationships

Three Reminders for Days of Trouble Reminder 3 — You Will Not Be Given Up

by Bonnie Scasta, Women's Ministry Director

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.” Ps 41:1-2 (ESV)

In the previous post, we were reminded that God will protect us and deliver us when we experience adversity. The remainder of these verses instruct us in the third reminder for the day of trouble: God will not give us up to the will of our enemies.

If you are anything like me, I often forget I even have an enemy out there that could be part of the hard circumstances in my life.  I forget that he does nothing but lie to me, seeking to steal, kill, and destroy my very life.  From the very beginning of this psalm, David recognizes and calls out the work of the enemy, remembering that God will not give him over to it.   He remembers that God will deliver even when his enemies are after him.

Take a moment to think about your current adversity.  Maybe you are facing temptation after temptation in addiction or with different people in your life that you are attracted to.  Perhaps you have lost a close friend or things with your community are just hard because you lack the deep connection you hope for.  You might feel utterly alone and like there is no option for marriage, and even the thought that it could happen actually makes you a bit queasy because of your same-sex attraction.  You could be consumed with hurt because a person wronged you or you might feel defeated with how your abuse impacts your present relationships and ability to trust.  Maybe you are heartbroken over the possibility that you will never have the family you hoped for or your marriage is falling apart.  

In all these circumstances, the enemy wants you to believe his will has won. That you will be left in despair.  No rescue will come.  The struggle will never end.  The deceiver whispers that You or your loved one can never experience victory and freedom in Christ.  That Christ’s love will not be sufficient or near. Yet God promises he will NOT give us over to the desire of our enemy.  He promises that even if the enemy seeks to bring or has brought utter destruction on our lives, we will not be given over to it.

Jesus is our ultimate hope and example of this truth.  This entire psalm foreshadows the scene that happens thousands of years later with Jesus being given over to his enemies by Judas.  Jesus knows what it is like to be delivered into the hands of his enemies.  He knows what it is like to love someone, to trust them, to give them nothing but good and in return to be given over to destruction.  He was beaten, mocked, and then hung on a cross, taking on the full wrath of our sin.  He was separated from the God he previously had constant communion with.  When he died, the enemy thought he won.  He thought his will had prevailed. BUT then Jesus rose.  He overcame the will of the enemy and so will we when our hope is in him.

Stop believing the lies of the enemy and using your circumstances and trials to agree with him. Instead, call the enemy on his bluff and remind yourself about the truth of our God overcoming all the enemy’s work through Jesus.

Father, thank you that you are a God who overcomes our enemies.  Thank you that no matter what adversity we are going through, what lie or destruction the enemy brings, we will not be given over to it.  Help us remember how you overcame on the cross and encourage us to continue to have hope in all our trials.  Amen.