“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:31-33
Jesus, knew what it was to be separated. In the account recorded in John 16, Jesus’ disciples were predicted to separate themselves from him. They distanced themselves because they did not want to suffer the same fate. He knew their faith was about to be tested. Knowing what was to come, Jesus did not judge them. Instead he encouraged them to remain steadfast in their trust of him. He gave them the heads up – they would lose the battle that dark night but they would not lose the war. He did not want discouragement to overwhelm them to the point of falling away, giving up. He was equipping them to overcome their failure and go on to serve Him.
Psalm 23:1-4 reads The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows (pastures), he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
This Psalm reminds us that where we are, God was already there because He leads us, He goes before us. It is therefore important that we connect with Him because when we do we will be equipped to distinguish pastures from wastelands. We will not only identify the pasture but will understand the importance of that spiritual place of provision – where there is ample food and nourishment for growth in spirit and soul. The green meadows is our designated place for feeding, resting and learning – e.g. perfecting the ability to recognise, hear and listen to the voice of the Shepherd and respond to His instructions in confident obedience. The Good Shepherd will provide for all our needs in this time of isolation and beyond.
Is there a longing in your heart to connect or reconnect with God? Are there important lessons to learn? This period of isolation and separation could afford, if you let it, quiet times and solitude to contemplate and meditate on our Father God, His ways and His surpassing attributes; to delight in Him; to seek His wisdom and His perspective for our lives.
Psalm 1:2 reads: “But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night.”
The word meditate is affiliated with the word regurgitate. The word meditate is a pastoral word that David garnered from observing his sheep. Sheep have four stomachs. The sheep would eat the grass and flowers in the fields, and the foliage would go down into one stomach. Later, while the sheep rested in the shade, it would regurgitate, which is the same word that is translated meditate, the foliage, chew it over again, and send it back down to another stomach. In the same way, in our solitude and time of quietness, graze in the pasture of God’s Word. Read, ponder, study, regurgitate, reflect and then digest the Word in the ‘coram Deo’ – “in the presence of God“. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the Word of God will navigate its way from your mind and flood every area of the heart.
The wilderness in the bible was sometimes depicted as a place for positive divine discipline to proof of God’s providential care and the devotion or lack thereof returned to him by his chosen people. It is in the wilderness experiences (in times of isolation), that we can more often than not experience times of grace and closeness to God. Taking delight in the Lord causes us to take our sights off of what we want in order to long for what He desires.
David said in Psalm 63:1-8 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, …
David was in the wilderness of Judah (a place of isolation, alienation). It was a rocky place and he was thirsty, spiritually and physically, for God. He longed to worship the Lord in the sanctuary in Jerusalem but he could not because he was in the wilderness of Judah running away from those who were pursuing him to kill him. In his turmoil, his confidence rested in the unwavering, unfaltering covenant love of God which David described as “better than life itself”. He trusted God to protect him from his enemies so that one day he would be able to one day return to the sanctuary in Jerusalem to worship Lord.
That’s how it feels right now for many of us. We long to be together to worship God but we cannot because of a global and local pandemic. We feel alienated, isolated not having full freedom – confined by circumstances not of our making. However, we can take comfort in knowing that we too have a covenant relationship with God our Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. That covenant relationship is built on the love of God which is steadfast (unwavering, unfaltering), will never ever cease and His mercies, which are new every morning, will never ever come to an end. So magnificent is the Lord’s faithfulness to us – Lamentations 3:22-23. We will NEVER be cut off from the mercies and faithfulness of our God. The Lord will never leave or forsake us – WE WILL NEVER BE ALONE.
The Lord invites us to “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;. Isaiah 55:1-5
Finally, the Lord says in Jeremiah 33:3 NLT and AMP versions respectively:
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’
Give God the opportunity to turn your place of isolation into a lush pasture. Psalm 65:12. reads “The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy.”
Turn to God, listen and let your soul LIVE!