Following Jesus Alone: Alone with God

The biblical journey of faith starts here:
"I called Abraham alone" (Is 51:2).
There is a side to our faith as Christians
that is very much communal and there is a
side to it that is very much solitary.

We as humans enjoy being together, we
gather together often and now, since
the invention of the cell phone, being
alone seems to be a rather strange and
rare thing.

Of late, I have sensed one thing: that
God is testing us to see if we can
make our faith journey with Him alone.
Not that He does not intend for us
to have fellowship, but I must know
if I am able to follow Him alone,
at all cost, no matter what: though
none go with me, still I will follow!

One reads of Christians imprisoned
for their faith, people like Richard
Wurmbrand, held in solitary
confinement for years and years.
His ability to keep relationship
with God when literally everything
was stripped away is our example.

The Early Church found solace in
fellowship, and I am sure counted
it a privilege, but many went alone
to their brutal deaths, as martyrs.

Even Jesus hoped for human
fellowship in His last hours in
Gethsemane, but, alas, His
friends were sleeping, unable
to stand the grief, and He was
left alone with His Father.
It was God alone that He had
in that desperate hour,
and it is God alone that we
must know we have in these
increasingly evil and uncertain days.

It is so easy for us to float
along on fellowship. We float from
Sunday to Wednesday, from this
conference to that bible study. Yet
deep within, are we vitally connected
to Jesus? If everyone and everything
were stripped away, what would we
have?

You may say, "Well, when that day
comes, God will give me grace." Indeed,
I trust He will give us all grace,
but if we do not prepare ourselves
when the way is somewhat easy, how
will things be for us when we must
work in the darkness? Does one train
for a marathon in one day? If we
tire running with footman, how
will we run with horses? (Jer. 12:5).

Our God is a jealous God. Have no
doubt about that. It is not that
He does not want you to enjoy the
richness of fellowship with His
people: an eternity of that awaits
us. But He knows that He made us
first of all for HIMSELF, and He
will have us for HIMSELF. In this
is our only joy: our destiny and
crown if only we could stop
toying with lesser things and
distracting ourselves with the
immediate. We are meant to dwell
in the bosom of the Eternal One.

So I ask myself, as I ask you,
can you walk with God absolutely
alone, without crutch, aid or human
consort?

Do you know for sure that in
your darkest moments that He
will carry you? Do you know that
when all seems lost that He
will sustain you? Do you know
that past every human
disappointment and betrayal that
He is there, a Friend who sticks
closer than a brother?

This assurance is worked out in
the day to day events of our lives.
There is no magic formula, no
prescribed method, only time
spent with God, day after day,
week after week, month after month
until we breathe Him within and
without. It is our love
and connection with Him that
is formed in the small and
hidden moments of life--moments
shared only with Him! It is our
practice of God's Presence, even
when He does not feel present, that
will bring us to this kind of
unencumbered faith.

The days seem increasingly
perilous. If our cell phones,
and internet go blank, and
gas becomes unavailable, how
will our spiritual lives fair
when we are left alone in
our houses?

In Zechariah there is a prophecy
about Jesus: "Smite the shepherd
and the sheep will be scattered"
(Zech. 13:7). God allowed His good
shepherd to be hit, even His
fellow", so that a refiner's
fire could come in and make His own
as pure as gold.

And this became God's testimony
in them: "I will say, "It is My
People" and they will say,
"The Lord is My God."
This is the testimony
that God is after in His
Church. Do not think that
this could not happen in
principle again, for is not
God after a Church "without
spot or wrinkle", a Church
whose hearts are totally His?

Has God becoming our Dwelling
Place? A place where no moth
corrupts and no rust eats away
at? Is He your God? And our
you completely His? It is time
to prepare, time to press into God,
time to know that He alone
suffices.

Are you able to follow Jesus alone?

abandonment to God
Following Jesus
alone with God
persecution
patience
the Christian walk
spiritual testing