[346 words]
Have you ever felt like you were alone? Maybe at work you felt like you were the only one who does any real work. We can feel isolated like we are the only one going through struggles. The devil uses these feelings to break us down and attack us. We start to feel sorry for ourselves. We may start to resent the people around us who we believe are better off than we are, or who are not helping us when we are working so hard.
I worry that we might feel alone in our Christian walk. Many of the things we do for God are done in private. We are often unaware of all the work that is going on around us by other members. We can end up feeling like “I am the only one” even when we are in a large crowd of other Christians on Sunday morning.
We recently had a lesson about Elijah. Elijah was a worker, a prophet of God. However, he grew to feel isolated and alone. He believed he was the only follower of God left in Israel. He felt he was the only one still doing what was right, and still willing to work for God. “I am the only one…” (1 Kings 18:22; 19:10).
God does three things to address Elijah’s problem. Elijah is reminded that God is always with us (1 Kings 19:12-13). God tells Elijah to get back to work (1 Kings 19:15-17). Elijah is reminded that there are other faithful followers of God (1 Kings 19:18).
Sometimes we may begin to feel isolated in our own work for God. God will always be with us (Matthew 28:20). We are called to keep working (Colossians 3:17). There are believers all around the world. “…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). We should never forget that the devil wants us to feel like “I am the only one,” that is when we are most vulnerable.
Brad Tolbert
Monticello church of Christ
Monticello, AR