LONELINESS
by John Hunter
Look what I have for you. I will not, I will not, I will not leave you alone.” Will you let the Lord say this to you? Christ declared, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world [age].” These wonderful prom ises can come true for you. Remem ber our key verse, “All the promises of God find their ‘yes’ in Him for you.” This promise of being with you is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you trusted Him as Saviour, He came to dwell in your heart and life through the person of the Holy Spirit. This is the mean ing of Revelation 3:20. Do you want to catch a picture of a really lonely man? Look at II Timothy 4:6 where we find the words of Paul written from a Roman prison. He testified without hesitation, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” In verse 16 he explains further, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.”
I T IS VERY INTERESTING for me to realize that as I counsel with Christians, there is an almost com pletely neglected group of older peo ple who sometimes are forsaken. Maybe you are one of these, not as young as you used to be. Perhaps you have lost your husband or wife. While you’re brave, yet you say to me, “Nobody understands; I try to be brave, but things are so lonely.” In Heb. 13:5, we read, “Let your conversation be without covetous ness ; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” How few people today are really content with what they have. Satisfaction seems to be a very elu sive commodity. In the Amplified New Testament we find this perti nent translation of this verse: “Let your character or moral disposition be free from the love of money [in cluding] greed, avarice, lust and craving for earthly possessions — and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up nor leave you with out support. [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake nor let [you] down, [relax My hold on you]. Assuredly not!” Isn’t that a tremendous word? The original has three negatives or “I will nots’.” The Father won’t leave you alone; the Holy Spirit won’t leave you alone; the Son won’t leave you alone. How can you argue with that? It’s just as if God had you by the shoulder and was looking square ly into your eyes saying, “Now listen, I want you to understand this. You’ve been feeling too saddened and lonely, worrying about yourself.
Misionaries participating in the annual Arizona Bible College Missions' Conference come from all parts of the world. Pictured above are James Walker,serving with the Wycliffe Bible Translators in Mexico, and Miss CorabelleWiest of Grants Pass, Oregon whodoeschildren's work in Brazil. Missions carryan important empha sis for the Gospel in all of the Biola schools.
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