All alone

Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2).

In his book “The Cocktail Party”, T. S. Elliot describes three people waiting in the anteroom of hell; each talks, but only to himself. No one listens to anyone else or responds to them. Gradually these people become aware that they need not expect the devil to come and lead them to a worse place. They are in hell, and although they are surrounded by others, each of them is utterly alone.

You have probably felt alone at some point in your life. Maybe you moved into a college dormitory, or took a job in a different city. Maybe you went through a divorce, or lost your spouse to death. Whatever the circumstances, for a time it seemed as if you had no one to talk to, no one to listen to your joys and sorrows. I’d imagine that you felt confused, sad, even frightened.

But in reality, you know that you weren’t really alone--not totally. Almost certainly, there was at least one friend that you could call. There were people that you ran into every day who knew your name and would give you a smile if you said “Hi!” And if you needed help, you knew that there were doctors, policemen and many other professionals that you could turn to for help.

Think of how you would feel if you were truly alone—no one that you could call for help, not even a familiar voice on the TV or the radio. Living in utter silence—that would be terrifying.

When God created Adam, He said it is not good for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). In fact, being isolated is the worst thing that we can experience—that is why prisons reserve solitary confinement for the worst offenders.

Our sins separate us from God. If we die while so separated, we will spend eternity separated from God, all alone—that is hell. Thankfully, Jesus suffered hell on the cross for us; when He cried my God, my God, why have You forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) we hear the very words that we would cry if we were sent to hell! By suffering God’s punishment for our sins, Jesus has spared us from ever having to be truly alone. No matter how lonely life can make us feel, when we pray we have our Lord’s promise: I will hear, for I am compassionate (Exodus 22:27c).