How to Handle the Feeling of Being All Alone

Have you ever felt all alone?

As a four-year-old child I can remember being separated from my father in the Greenville, South Carolina J.M. Fields discount store. What seemed like hours, probably amounted to less than 30 seconds. I remember the passing adults, towering over my three-foot frame, casting long shadows of despair as I stood frozen between the merchandise racks.

I felt all alone, terrible. I cried.

I still remember it like it was yesterday, because being all alone is the worst thing any of us can imagine. I’ll never forget the wonderful sense of relief that came over me upon seeing the face of my father as he rounded the corner and said, “Bill, I’m right here.” I ran into his arms. He wiped my tears and took me by the hand. I no longer felt alone.

The prophet Elijah knew what it was like to feel all alone. The Old Testament book of 1 Kings records Elijah saying; “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets (18:22). I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too (19:10).”

I’ve been outnumbered before, but never had the deck stacked against me 450 to 1. There were more prophets around in Elijah’s day than just him, but they weren’t speaking out. They weren’t standing up against the wicked King Ahab like Elijah. They weren’t counted because they were in hiding.

And how did God respond?

He told Elijah that while he may have felt like his life was over, it was not. God instructed Elijah to go back the way he came, then He told Elijah how He was going to get the job done. God told him there were 7000 people in Israel that Elijah had forgotten about; “all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him (19:18).” These were the faithful, the remnant God had preserved to carry out His holy mission and validate Elijah’s calling.

Even though Elijah’s life was full of turmoil, just like yours and mine, God used him to bring an end to Baal worship and bring revival to the land. At times he was bold, and other times he was fearful and tentative, just like you and I. He knew the power of God and at the same time the depths of depression, not unlike you and I. (source: GotQuestions) But no matter what he might have been feeling at the time, Elijah knew one thing to be fact; God is sovereign. And because of that, Elijah chose to trust in one who can be trusted. He put his feelings aside and put his faith into action.

As long as we’re residents of Planet Earth, feelings of being all alone will come and go. The question is, “What will we do with those feelings?” We must remember that the way we feel does not always correspond with the way things really are. We must choose to trust the facts, not our feelings.

As a four-year-old separated from my dad in that big store over 50 years ago, I felt like my father had abandoned me. He had not, and neither does our Heavenly Father. His Word says, “Do not fear, for I am with you (Is 41:10).” Life is not an unnavigable maze, but it will be if we fail to put our trust in the one true God.

In what area of your life do you currently feel all alone? Is it your health, challenges at work, relational issues with your spouse, a child abusing alcohol or drugs? Whatever it is, I encourage you to choose to trust the same God Elijah trusted, and watch Him work the 450 to 1 odds in your favor.

You are not alone. You plus God is a majority. You are loved by the Creator of the Universe. Run into His arms. He will wipe away your tears and lead you by the hand through the trials of life. You will no longer feel alone.

Play to win this week in the game that really counts!

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