Several years ago, my father-in-law introduced me to a TV show called Alone. The premise is simple—contestants go out into nature to survive the elements with no support, no community, no help. They are completely alone. After watching several seasons, it seems the key to enduring comes down to two categories: finding food, and overcoming devastating solitude.
As a guy who loves camping, I’ve often wondered if I could make it on the show. The appeal of being surrounded by the spectacular beauty of nature, the blessed elimination of all I-35 traffic and the complete absence of e-mail sound like a recipe for the very best of all possible vacations. However, deep down, I know I’d quickly run into two problems—I rather like food and the thought of being alone makes me shiver. Even if I could survive by scavenging for berries and tiny snails, could I survive the complete isolation? Could I be alone?
But the reality is that being alone is not just for the contestants of this show because, in truth, you can be surrounded by people and yet feel completely alone. And this kind of alone is far worse. These contestants at least can end their solitude by tapping out and going home. What happens when we long for friends, community and connection, yet it remains elusive? It is daunting to feel alone at school. Alone with thousands of social media “friends.” Alone in marriage. Alone in shame. Alone.
While this post could certainly be about the importance of being deeply connected in community (which is certainly a great thing), I’d like to remind us that as Christians there is another aspect of not being alone that we too quickly forget. We can so easily look at being alone as solely defined by connections with other people and forget that we are continuously connected to our Father in heaven. I may be alone, but I am alone with God. Being alone with God changes everything.
The Lord is the One who is always at hand (Philippians 4:5). He is the one who will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He is continually with us and will not let anything shake us (Psalm 16:8). He will be with us to the very end (Matthew 28:20). The reality is that while I may not have the friends I want, the marriage I want, the connections I want, the One who matters is always with me.
What difference should this make? When we feel alone, we end up talking to ourselves and generally throwing ourselves a great pity party—misery loves company, even if it is with ourselves. But if God is with us, no matter who else is or isn’t around, we can bring our hopes, our fears, joys and needs to him because He is with us. Always.