Alone
One of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is the fact that if a person ever expects to find God he must find Him alone. We live in a society which is group-conscious. From the time we are children we spend a significant share of our time doing those things which will make us acceptable in some group or other, be it our family or circle of friends, our office, shop, or classroom. It is interesting to observe how strongly our mode of dress, our manner of speech, to say nothing of the ay we behave and the way we think, are influenced by the groups with which we associate.
But the call of God is always a call to the individual, and it is invariably a call to leave the security of the group and to walk alone with Him. There came the moment when Abram heard the Voice say, “Get thee out of the country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” Just so surely will the voice of God come to every seeking heart and will demand the leaving behind of everything and everyone else in order to follow Him alone.
We have made the mistake of allowing group-consciousness to creep into our spiritual life. Most people like to associate with a big comfortable church and would like to sail to heaven as a group. We go to great lengths to bring together large numbers of people for rallies and conventions and big meetings. There is certainly a place for the inspiration which a large group gives us, but only if we do not stifle the still, small voice which whispers, “Come apart.”
A person who misses the gatherings of fellow Christians misses much; the person who misses daily private meetings with Jehovah misses everything. We may attend meetings by the dozen, but we shall finally fail unless we find that secret walk with Him. There are rich spiritual experiences available which we shall never find in a group which await us when we shut ourselves in our prayer closets. There are lessons of the Holy Ghost which are never learned but by personal encounter with Him. There are treasures to be discovered in the Word which are not grasped until we find them in the solitude of our own meditations.
There is very little in the lonely walk with God which flatters the natural man. It will not be long before He will show us what we are really like. We don’t like that. All the pictures of ourselves as sweet, loving, gentle, good saints will be shattered, and we shall see our self-centeredness, our rebellion, our total wretchedness and hopelessness. Then follows the lonely struggle with the forces of evil. It will seem as if even God has deserted us. But this is the only road to deliverance.
But He will go still farther. With holy jealousy He will search our hearts for all attachments to those we hold dear. Then like a master surgeon He will cut the ties which bind us to them. No ties is too close, no relationship too dear but that His discerning eye will find it and cut it. He will dash our hopes on the rocks by letting those dearest to us disappoint us and misunderstand us. Or perhaps He will call us to sever voluntarily a tie which interferes with His working. He will deny us a sense of intimate fellowship with anyone but Himself. He will bring us into the midnight of loneliness until we have nothing left but Him.
Then, when all seems despair, He will weld our hearts to His
as the only unbreakable tie we are permitted. And then we find Him. Henceforth
all other relationships must revolve about this
There are not many who find such a walk with Him. Perhaps it our lack of courage. We begin to feel the pangs of loneliness and the weight of the cross and ask Him to remove them. So He does, and we miss His best blessings. Or perhaps we become impatient. We begin with God, and then nothing seems to happen immediately, so we give up, and again our hearts go hungry. Or perhaps we become so wrapped up with the cares of life, or perhaps even become so busy doing things for Him that our personal relationship gets crowded out.
Yet probably none of us can fully imagine the wonder of a life which has no claim but His. Surely we have barely tasted of the deep sense of joy and peace which is reserved only for those who pay the price to walk alone with their Maker.