The Wilderness

If you have ever felt alone, you know what I'm about to say. You've been there. Maybe you ARE still there right now. No worries.

My wife and I were watching a show this week about a guy who spent 30 years living alone in the wilderness. Not a lifestyle that's for everybody, that's for sure, but he seemed to enjoy it.

I got thinking about what that would be like, living alone like that, and I have decided I never would have made it. Living alone for short periods of time is okay - even desirable sometimes. But 30 years?

God said, "It is not right for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18) and I think He's right. No, I KNOW He's right. God is NEVER wrong. Remember that.

So, why do we feel so alone sometimes? Sometimes it is a choice, subconscious maybe, but it is a choice. The guy in the picture didn't want to live with people anymore. He got tired of them. He made a choice.

Sometimes however aloneness is forced upon us, or so it seems. Why? Why am I alone when I don't want to be? Maybe the love of your life was ripped from you and you are feeling so very alone. Why? If God created me for a relationship, why did He take me best relationship from me? You have probably asked God that very question. What was His answer? Did you wait for it?

I wonder, when we are alone, is it actually OUR choice to be that way? Do we get tired of the dating scene, disappointing humans, and being hurt? Maybe. It's also possible that we simply get tired of waiting. We just give up looking. Hoping. Again, we have made a choice.

We were created for relationships - Adam . . .and Eve. God created them for each other. So, where is our Adam? Where is our Eve? Oh, they are out there. And if they ARE indeed out there, why have we stopped searching for them?

Hope is an amazing thing. Hope is why I get excited thinking about the life after this one. It is why we get up in the morning. It is why we seek God. There MUST be something out there. If not, why do we hope?

Whatever your situation is right now, if you have hope you HAVE a future. Maybe living in the wilderness is enjoyable to you. That's fine. But if you enjoy relationship and you are currently alone maybe this will give you what you need this morning:

Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:27-31

Trust in God. "He WILL give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). That is a promise. Be one who trusts in the Lord, no matter how long it takes.

Trust, Hope, Praise.