Never Alone
When I was about 8 or 9 I got lost in
Thorpe Park. My family and I had gone for a lovely day out and I had gone on
the Flying Fish ride. My parents had said that they would wait around the side
for me for when I got off. So I went on the ride and then when I got off, I
went round the side to where my parents had said that they would be waiting for me,
but they weren’t there. Or at least, I couldn’t see them. Immediately - like
any little girl who is in a big theme park and can’t see their parents would - I
panicked. I began frantically running around looking for them, but I was too
frightened to look for them for very long. My legs were like jelly, I just felt
like crying and I felt so alone. Then I spotted a member of staff litter-picking
and ran over and told her that I’d lost my mum and dad. She immediately contacted
reception and took me there to wait for my parents whilst they put out a
message over the theme park speakers. To be honest, at this point I was more
embarrassed than scared, as the man at reception tried to distract me by
showing me a map of the park and asking me what ride I wanted to go on next. My
parents eventually came and got me and they told me that they had been waiting
exactly where they said they’d be after all, I’d just failed to spot them.
Sometimes it can feel a bit like this with God. God promises
to be with us in every situation, right there with us, but sometimes it can
seem like He has failed to be there when He has said He will be. Sometimes, in those
times when we need Him most, it can seem like He is not there and we can feel
so alone. But the truth is, He is always where He says He’ll be – right
there beside us. He never fails us – whilst humans will fail us, God will never fail us, and always keeps His promises. And what is one of those promises? Isaiah
41:10 – “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand.” Our God tells us not to fear because He says, ‘I am with you.’ And He
doesn’t just say that He is with us, He says, in Matthew 20:28 that He will be
with us ALWAYS, even to the end of the age. He promises to NEVER leave
us, and He says that He will strengthen and help us.
So whatever situation you are in at the moment, and whether
you feel like God is there with you or not, know that He is there with you and that
He will not leave you. Run to Him and let Him help and strengthen you, and
know that you are never alone.
Deuteronomy 13:8 – “And the LORD, He is the One who goes before
you. He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be afraid.”
Thank
you for reading and please leave a comment below on what you thought of today’s
post. I would love to hear your feedback and also receive any questions you may
have! Please do click to follow my blog, and subscribe to receive email updates
for new blog posts!
Love
in Christ,
Chloe
xxx
Thank you for doing this post xx
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing, beautiful thought! Thanks Chloe!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful how your thoughts - and with them your writing - flow so freely, Chloe.
ReplyDeleteI have a thought for you....
We all have our own thoughts about God - but aren't you being a little hard on people when you say that 'humans will fail us' ? When you think of all those who have loved and cared for you in your life, and continue to do so, are you expecting them to let you down eventually?
I know we all have our weaknesses but I often find myself wondering at the kindness people show, often to complete strangers, and how much most people want to help others when they can. I am also pleased to live in a society where, in difficult times, there are qualified people whose work it is to support you. I'd be very interested to know your thoughts on this. GAP
G A P
Thank you! And thank you for your question. I can completely understand what you are saying - there are definitely so many lovely people out there who serve, love and care for people throughout their whole life and I am not putting them down in anyway - that is definitely my intention also, to continually love, care and serve. However, we are all only human and I believe that no one is perfect - that only God is perfect - so no matter how hard we may try to be loving and caring and kind all the time, we will all fail. We all mess up because of the sin in our lives. In terms of me saying that 'humans will fail us', what I mean by this is that we cannot rely on any human. We cannot put all our trust in a person. Because whilst people may have the very best intentions in mind, people can let us down. Human lives can be messy. People who we love can move away. Our friends can suddenly leave us. Peoples words can hurt us. People double-book and let us down. Things happen that we can't control, and we can be let down. We can only rely on God, who is perfect. He will never let us down. He will never leave us. He will never stop loving us, even when it may seem like He has done some, or even all three of these things. I hope this answers your question, and I'd love to answer any more you may have!
ReplyDeleteChloe X
So good getting to know your thoughts in this way, Chloe. I think you are well on the way to becoming the caring person you strive to be.
DeleteI understand where you are coming from too - but I do have a few more questions.....
You have described us as 'only human'. Again, perhaps you are being a little dismissive of humankind who, to my mind, show an extraordinary capacity for understanding, creating ( writing, air travel, computers, vaccinations, music, agriculture, cookery - the list is endless..........), loving and caring.
Yes, we do all 'mess up' to some degree but I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'the sin in our lives'. You could say that small children 'mess up', inevitably, as part of the learning process - in fact tthat could apply to all of us. Is this because of 'sin' ?
And finally, at the risk of sounding like an exam, you say that God sometimes appears to let us down. Can you describe how this may happen - and how it can be/has been resolved, possibly for you ?
Hello. Sorry it has taken so long for me to reply to you.
DeleteOh, I wasn't dismissing the capabilities of humans at all! One has only got to look at everything we can do, and how complex and intricate our bodies and body systems are, to see that we have been incredibly designed! This is one of my reasons for being created by God, rather than formed by chance. But I guess that's another discussion for another day!
Sorry, I probably did use the wrong phrase, but by 'only human', I was referring to the fact that whilst yes, we have so many amazing capabilities and can do so many amazing things, we can never be perfect like God, however hard we try.
And yes, I do believe that when children mess up, it is the result of sin.
This may sound harsh, but I'll explain and define what I mean by 'sin' and 'messing up'. By 'messing up', I don't mean a child not getting 100% in a math test, or tripping over or falling down the stairs etc. These aren't sins, these are just accidents that happen during the learning process. By sin, I mean when children right from an early age, rebel and disobey their parents, push boundaries, shout, tantrum etc. I think the best way to define 'sin' is as an intentional act of disobedience against God, which can also be against others, for example parents or elders. Even if we do not know or have a relationship with God, every wrong thing we do, every selfish act, act with a bad motive (eg. for ones own gain) or act of disobedience is because of sin. So in this sense, we all sin, even young children.
As for your question about God appearing to let us down, I know for a fact that He doesn't - I'll give you a personal example.
Last year we felt that we had to leave our church. It was one of the most difficult decisions we'd ever had to make as we didn't want to leave and had loads of good friends there, and were involved in many things there. In this instance it was difficult to trust God and see how He could use it for good. You could say it looked like He'd let us down. But within a few weeks we found a new Church. We felt that it was right for our family to move there, but it still wasn't easy for me. But I trusted God, and in April, the Church got a new youth pastor. Around that same time, I decided I wanted to go into youth work after A levels and I felt like that was what God was calling me to do. Just a few weeks ago I met with my youth pastor to discuss whether I could get involved with the youth work at Church, and it looks like I will be joining the youth team in August/September, as well as doing an internship next September with my Church which will help train me for doing youth work. I now know that moving Church was definitely God's decision for us, and it has meant that I can pursue youth work and get the help from my youth pastor. I can clearly see now how God was fitting everything together for my good. Now I look back and see that God is there, and He is faithful, He doesn't let me down. Hope this answers your questions? Love Chloe xxx
Hello Chloe. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honored to get connected with you as well as know you and about your love for the Lord Jesus Christ being His child. Your blog post brings out beautiful truth about our loving and ever present God who never leaves you alone. I am blessed by your blog post. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 years in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. we reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come with your friends to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure you will have a life changing experience. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. I may not visit your blog again and hence it would be great if you get connected on my email id id you desire so. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends and also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centred rest of the year 2018.
ReplyDelete