December 5

Alone?

[Jesus] took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 

––Matthew 26:37-39

 

One of the devil’s oldest tricks is to try to convince us that we are utterly alone in our sins. We mess up and this thought pops into our mind: “There’s something seriously wrong with me, and other men don’t struggle the way I do.” Or how about this tired chestnut: “I’m never to going to have victory in this area of my life.” If you struggle with these types of thoughts, let me disabuse you of the notion that you are alone or unique. In fact, of the tens of thousands of men I’ve met over the years, these are some of the most common statements I hear:

“I feel completely alone.”

“No one understands what I’m going through.”

“If people knew what a screw-up I am, they’d abandon me.”

“I’ve done much-worse things than other guys I know.”

Feeling alone. Lonely. Less than.

Man of God, don’t listen to the lie. It doesn’t matter if you have a houseful of kids or tend a lighthouse by yourself on an island in the Arctic, every man at one time or another feels alone. Jesus felt alone and abandoned too. You doubt me? Here’s what He said on the cross when God had to turn away as Jesus took on the sins of the world: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Today’s opening verse captures Jesus on the edge of despair. Read it again. Pretend you are there; you are being asked to do what Jesus was being asked to do by His Father. Can you imagine a more lonely feeling? But like Jesus, you are not alone. In fact, He says that He is always with us—always. So when you are facing dark moments, or give into temptation to commit “that same sin” you’ve been committing for years, remember Jesus’ promise that He will always be with you.

Don’t buy into the enemy’s lie that you are alone—even if you have few friends and no family, you have Him. You have the one who saved you from the pit; the One who loves You and who hears you. That’s something to hold onto!

Father, I rebuke Satan and his lies and embrace the truths of Your Word that tell me that Jesus is with me always. Thank You for Your incredible love!