Are You Lonesome Tonight?
As we move into short days and long nights, it becomes easier to feel discouraged. If we are increasingly secluded (by weather and, this year, by governmental edict), we can experience genuine loneliness. I enjoy being alone, but I have a choice in the matter; others do not. Solitude occurs when we want to be alone; loneliness happens when friends and family are taken from us. Solitude soothes, whereas loneliness looms. Because God knows all about us, His Word speaks to us about the painful subject of loneliness. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we have seen previously, loneliness cannot limit the power of God. We were taught this truth on Monday from Luke 15, in the parable of the Prodigal Son. The word picture there (in verse 20) is of God the Father running to us when everyone else has abandoned us. Similarly, as we studied yesterday, Jesus Christ, God the Son, spoke words of aching forsakeness from His Cross (Matthew 27:45), assuring us that we never need to speak those same words. It should be no surprise, then, that God the Holy Spirit also guarantees us that we will never be alone. He is called the “Comforter” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) because He indwells each believer (I Corinthians 6:19) and seals our salvation (Ephesians 1:13) “unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). He will never depart from us. One verse that has long encouraged me is I John 4:4b: “Greater is He [the Holy Spirit – see I John 3:24] that is in you than he [Satan – see John 12:31] that is in the world.” The ongoing and everpresent ministry of the Holy Spirit reassures us that we are never truly alone.