YOU ARE NOT ALONE

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you know that my life has been riddled with trials and valleys of darkness. Ive suffered through 2 very traumatic experiences, they were the darkest times of my life. The first one I rarely talk about because my mind has blocked out a lot of it, but the second one I have been quite open about both on here and in person. There is something that I learned from those experiences that changed the way I went through them. And if I did not know this thing, I would not be here now. The thing that I knew and that kept me going even when I wanted t end it all, was four simple words: 

I knew, because of my faith in Jesus Christ, that I was never alone. I knew that even in my deepest and darkest of hours of pain and depression, that God was there with me. In both those dark experiences, I felt hopeless and lost and abandoned by those that I loved most. Except for the fact that I knew that God was with me. Yes, most of us all hear growing up that "God is with us" an that "Jesus loves you" and that "He will comfort you". I had heard all of that and I believed it, but I had never experienced it first hand. Until these two experiences. Those were times where I saw no way out, nothing but pain on all sides. I was in a deep dark hole all alone. But it wasn't until I looked up and saw the light, that I realized that all those sayings about God that I heard growing up were 100% true. And in those times, they became very real for me.

We always hear about "submitting to the Lord" or "humbling ourselves before the Lord", and those are actions in the life of a Christian that are often very hard to do, especially in this day and age. We find ourselves so preoccupied with school, jobs, family, friends, money, relationships, ect... that we forget to focus. And many times it takes us losing all of those things to realize that we need to set our sights on what can truly bring us life. For me, and for many of you, it has taken just that. We lose all and have nowhere to turn but to God, and in that time, we fall at the foot of the cross and bring all our troubles and worries to the one who loves us unconditionally. 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Now, I didn't completely understand this verse until last summer. I was working as a counselor at a Christian camp and my good friend Daniel was preaching and explained what the word "yoke" meant. My whole life I read this verse and others with the word in it and assumed that it meant egg yoke (yes, I am an idiot). But I learned that a yoke was a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull. So essentially what Jesus is saying is that the load that we carry is full and heavy and troublesome, but he is offering to take that from us and give us His yoke, which is light and easy too carry. 

There are two reasons that I have found that we are not alone. 

Reason 1

No matter what you are going through, no matter what emotions you feel, you are never alone, God is always with you! 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave or forsake you." -Deuteronomy 31:6

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." -Psalm 23:4

"The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit" -Psalm 34:18

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" -Hebrews 13:5

Reason 2

No matter what you are going through, no matter what emotions you feel, no matter who has wronged you or deserted you, even if you feel like your world is empty and you are worthless you are never alone, more than likely there is someone who cares for you. Someone whose world would crash if it weren't for you, someone that you make feel like they are not worthless. More than likely you have no idea of this person or how they feel. To them, you might mean the world to them. You might give them strength and hope. 
This could either be a romantic sense or just friendship. But no matter how alone you feel, the odds are that someone needs you and cares for you and wants to be there for you.

"The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray" -Proverbs 12:26

"A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need" -Proverbs 17:17

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -Proverbs 18:24

"The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense" -Proverbs 27:9

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" -Proverbs 27:17

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up" -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?" -C.S. Lewis

So, if you are reading this and you feel alone, unloved, abandoned, or hopeless, remember these 2 reasons why 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE