Sometimes standing alone can be, well...lonely. I guess that’s obvious, but it’s also good to know and consider. There are different types of standing alone. There is the kind that we all expect; the difference between us believers and the rest of the world. And then there is the other kind of standing alone, the kind that can easily leave us very discouraged and disillusioned. I’m talking about when folks you’ve been close to take other paths, or when folks you trusted ended up proving untrustworthy. Maybe you’ve shared glorious fellowship with them, and you felt such a close bond with them. It was like a little piece of heaven. You held discussions on your common convictions, and they encouraged you in what you both mutually believed.

   Then things changed one day. You realized that you were no longer walking the same path. You were standing alone.

“Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” {Isaiah 30:21}

Dear Sisters,

Have you ever had your hearing tested? Do you ever wonder if you need to have it tested—like when you keep forgetting what your mom told you to do this morning—or didn’t even hear her tell you to do it? We all have a problem at times with our listening skills, but I think for most of us it is not because we cannot physically hear, but because we do not turn our minds “on” when our parents are speaking to us.

Last time, we unpacked the glorious promise of Jeremiah 31:14, realizing that God wants to satiate our souls with living water and soak our lives in His all-sufficient presence.  This is a wonderful truth to apply to our lives; but most of us fall short of living it as we should.  We know that our Lord is all we truly need—that He alone can bring lasting satisfaction—but we focus our energies on earthly things as if they will fulfill and complete us.  We convince ourselves that “if only” we could have this thing or reach that place or become this different person, we would finally be happy; and instead, we wind up empty and miserable.  Our gracious Heavenly Father wants much more for us than this!  He wants us to know true satisfaction, to walk through each day with joy, and to showcase His glory before an empty, miserable world.  His vision for His children is not merely to survive the daily grind, but to thrive in the midst of its challenges.  Here is a description of the life He wants for us.  The last verse is one you will recognize.  “. . . [A]nd they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord . . . [T]heir life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. . . . I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.  I will [satiate] the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord” (Jer. 31:12-14 ESV – emphasis added; same for the following verses).

At the end of the day, I was contemplating what I had done that day. God prompted a thought on my heart. How many times do I look into the mirror each day? I realized I look at myself quite a lot, and many times there are subconscious thoughts, such as, “Don’t I look adorable?” Other times, the mirror brings discouraging thoughts to mind, “Oh! That piece of hair just won’t stay put. I wish my hair looked like others girls’.”

Habits are an important part of life. They can be good or bad! We want to acquire good habits. But how would we get habits in the first place?

I was going to get an ultrasound to find out the due date of my second child. As I sat in the waiting room, thumbing through a woman’s health magazine, I couldn’t help but notice the other people come in and out.
 
A young, married couple was looking at pictures of their new little one that they were going to have very soon. Another woman in her fifties sat rigidly, waiting to have a mammogram. But the woman that came in next caught my attention.

​“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, Whose name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”—Isaiah 57:15
 
What a delight to study God’s character as revealed in His Word! When I consider His impeccable character, His unmatched beauty, His magnificent power, I declare with the psalmist, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visiteth him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour….O LORD our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8) What a mighty God we serve! Yet He cares for us as the sheep of His pasture, He holds us in His right hand of righteousness, He knows the number of hairs on our head, He puts our tears in a bottle...what love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1)!

​Discouragement. Do you ever find yourself discouraged? Maybe today you are having a less-than-optimal day, and are discouraged over your own failures. We all have days when we feel more keenly our own sinfulness and inability to fully obey the Lord.

I remember one particular summer morning. I woke up with good intentions to honor the Lord; however, within one hour, these hopes were dashed by several failures in the very areas I had been praying for victory. I had been desiring change and had prayed that the Lord would grant victory—and then, I had failed this quickly! I felt like a complete failure and wondered if, in any of my infant-like haltering steps, I ever would make any progress forward. It seemed like every time I thought I had made one frail step forward, I took a fall backward.

I wearily went to my devotional time that morning, without an enthusiasm for reading the Word. I sat dejectedly at my desk, not even reaching to open my Bible. All joy had fled, as I looked over the wickedness of my life. My thoughts condemningly nagged, “Who are you to say you are even a Christian when you fail like this every day? What kind of example are you, anyway?” A faint cry for forgiveness passed through my lips, as I slowly moved for the Bible. I opened it, flipping to the passage where David had cried out in humble forgiveness for his great sin (Psalm 51). I came across his earnest words and my heart echoed, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions!” I knew my Lord's lovingkindness and mercy was so great (Psalm 69:16)...but I also knew I did not deserve it. For some reason, in my proud discouragement, I did not want to so easily fall back to rest in His forgiveness. However, He is always faithful to forgive, no matter what our sins are. We must chose to accept and embrace this glorious truth! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).