You're Never Ever Ever Alone... Like, Ever.

I know... technically, this is tea! But this is Wednesday where we have decided to join in over at Holley Gerth's place and provide a little Coffee for Your Heart.  

Todays' prompt though? It feels like it is calling out for a cuppa tea... a little more time to linger and steep; to let the truth of it get a bit stronger, a bit more real and realized, the longer you sit with it! 

So cozy in, ya'll! 

Here is the truth that I have come to know:

Lonely and Alone are two different things... two very different feelings.  

How do I know this?  Well - I have been known to give in to feelings of loneliness, right in the middle of a crowded room.  I have bought the lie of invisibility... of not-mattering... of being in the way. I have found myself nodding in agreement with the thoughts of why-even-try, or no-one-cares-anyway.  None of these things are true, but they can FEEL like truth when we give in to loneliness.

But Alone... well - sometimes, Alone is a lovely invitation... a reward worth pressing through all the chaos and the piles of laundry and the crying and melt-downs... (can I get an Amen?)

However, often times Alone is dark and secluded, like a windowless room with round walls and no corners or edges to climb back up. Alone is no-one-there... no-one-seeing or -hearing or -knowing... Alone is a lie, because - sweet sister... I promise you, you are never ever ever alone! 

You have a God who is in hot pursuit... Who has been chasing you from the moment He had the very idea of you. From the second He formed your heart and breathed life into your lungs, He has been coming for you and more than any of my promises, which can often be pushed aside or broken without intent, all of HIS are Truth and you can take His Word and hide it in your heart!  Lean in to it and rest in His embrace!

I have written about this on the blog before... the subject comes up because, well - because we all fall prey to the lies, to the dark emotions, of alone. 

When our feelings weigh in heavier than that truth we know - we forget. We forget that we're not alone... we forget that we were made for community and relationship and we are connected in more ways than we remember.  

It does us well to remember that Jesus bore that Cross alone... so that we would never be.  We may feel forsaken... but we never are.  We need each other to remind us that when we are hurting, He is hurting... when we are lonely, He is there... when we are broken, He already was - in order to make us whole... in order to assure us that we are not alone! 

I think it breaks His heart a little when we feel like we are all alone.  He is - after all - right there with us... residing within us, sitting beside us... holding our frail hearts in His nail pierced hands, still creating us, forming us, loving us! And He whispers your name to friends and family... He prompts neighbors to smile and strangers to strike up a random conversation.  Community is His idea... Family is what we are grafted into. 

Do not give in to lonely, believing that you are alone.

Look to Him... look for Him to send love in phone calls and emails and giggly Littles that remind you of Truth... and look to me, because I will always remind you...

No - you are not alone. 

Linking up and sharing a cup of coffee with Holley Gerth again today

Linking with Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory