There are periods in life we all may experience complete loneliness or abandonment… perhaps wondering, “is there anyone that would truly walk through fire with me?” These times can appear inside circles of close friends and family members. There are times it may feel that even God himself has turned His back on us. The feelings and emotions of void can run rampant. It is so easy in these times to raise the white flag of surrender and abandon our mission, purpose or goals. It is easy to enter a state of depression and anxiety. Not much is worse than feeling you may be running your race alone.
Jesus had literally just spent an evening with His closest friends…humbling Himself and washing their feet and serving them dinner… After dinner He shared with them that the time had come for His suffering to begin. Leaving dinner they walked to a usual spot and He asked them to pray… then He walked away a short distance ALONE. He prayed to God that perhaps God would remove the suffering that was about to happen away from Him. Jesus knew that ultimately, for a period of time, even God the Father would abandon Him. “Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.” In spite of total and complete feelings of loneliness, Jesus had intent unwavering focus on His purpose.
When alone, go to God. When you feel even He has turned His back on you, pray. In this dark time Jesus was going through, He prayed AND God sent an angel that appeared and strengthened Him. Remember the Good Shepherd? When one sheep out of many went missing…when the one sheep wondered off alone…the Good Shepherd took the time to go and find the one sheep. Even the friends of Jesus, that for a brief time denied knowing Him, returned to Him and picked up where they left off…even to the point of enduring their own suffering on His behalf. We are never alone. Stay intent. Stay focused. God will never leave you and true friends always return.
“Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”” Luke 22:39-46 NLT
