We Are Not Alone

"We must realize the devil comes to warp our point of view, and it doesn't take much to push us off center."

THE DEVIL WOULD HAVE US ALL TO HIMSELF. If he can just get us alone, say, for hours. Separate us from our friends, from our family members, from people. He'll insert doubt about their motives, and frustration over their behavior. He makes it seem like we're wiser, more morally correct. We see what they do not, and we can fix them. He uses anger, calls it righteous. His only goal, to separate us from those we love, from those who love us, and from people of faith. We can no longer trust preachers. Or lay people. Or anyone. It's always progressive, a tiny seed of thought planted in our thinking in such a manner that it feels like ours. We are afraid of that thing. We are truly concerned. Concern is just anxiety in a dress.

We are told not to be anxious. Not to worry or be in fear. We are told to roll our cares on Jesus and love everyone we meet. Love seeks no one's wrong. Not to do them wrong. Nor to see wrong in them. Love overlooks faults. And a man or woman of faith is self-controlled. Temperance, the King James calls it. But the devil's point in all this is to pull us back from people so that it's just us. And him.

In that place, he can turn us where he will. No one understands us. We are alone in this. He will use Scriptures taken out of context to justify things. Well, isn't it right there in the Word? Our new outlook seems correct. Then he plunges in the knife. God is against us. Or failing that, this is His correction. Or plunging it deeper, we're just like "poor old Job."

Poor old Job is probably tired of being used as the devil's handout.

Isolation is only good when the Spirit of God ordained it for prayer and worship and study. Spending hours, days, alone lost in your own thoughts is always bad. People need people. This is how God made us. People need relationships, and relationships sometimes require effort. We must realize the devil comes to warp our point of view, and it doesn't take much to push us off center. We make excuses for our fears. We justify our behavior with illnesses, real or imagined, with mistruths dressed up to look like revelation. We cling to our mistrust because it seems safe.

Seeing our position, becoming aware of the enemy's crafty words, is our first step forward. Feeling lonely and depressed is a huge sign the enemy has been in your ear. Another sign is condemnation, either toward you or from you. It is not our job to condemn anyone, and our loving heavenly Father does not give condemnation. He is love. He comes to where we are at, to that place where we have gotten ourselves and gently urges us back on track. We have nothing to fear in Him. His heart is for us to have His very best. Anything that sounds like ridicule isn't Him. Anything couched as discipline that pushes us away from the church and God's people isn't Him. Anything which separates us from the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, our Teacher, our Guide is the enemy's work.

We don't have to be strong overnight. Nor know everything in order to be free. Deliverance comes when we let go of who we are and where we are, and we lay the weight we carry in God's hand. Put Him in charge and refuse to listen to the devil. Read the Word. Put God's love for you in your gaze and don't look away from it. Seek His presence through ministry WITH PEOPLE, through times of worship, and just sit and soak Him in. With no agenda. You're not asking for anything, not begging and pleading, but simply letting Him surround you with who He is.

Because all of who He is lives with you. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. The Holy Spirit is with you for an eternity. The Father is continually speaking to your heart. Isolation comes when we are no longer aware of Him, and loneliness and depression tag on its heels. Works of the devil to steal our future, to kill our joy, and destroy possibilities. He seeks to reduce our view of God to infinite misunderstandings, misinformation, and misinterpretations when the God who sent His Son to save the world is just as willing to do so for each one of us.

No matter how alone we feel, God is with us, Emmanuel, 24-7, 365 days of the year. He wants you to know it.

“You don’t need to worry or fret about anything: with a thankful heart, just talk to God about all your concerns, troubles and stresses, and God’s peace—that is beyond words and human explanation—will fill your minds and strengthen your hearts as you trust totally in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 Remedy)

“Therefore, surrender yourselves under God’s almighty healing hand that he might restore you, uplifting you to his ideal in due time. Pour out all your worries, frustrations and burdens upon him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“The Lord has promised that he will not leave us or desert us.” (Hebrews 13:5 CEV)

Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com