Alone Yet Not Alone

On By Beth AlisanIn Lessons

(One thing five weeks of abiding by stay-at-home orders has taught me is that loneliness has many dimensions.  I hadn’t planned on sharing a second lesson this month.  Only as I was filing papers into my writing binder, I came across this lesson written last fall.  It spoke words I needed to be reminded of again.  I pray it reaches the hearts of those who need to hear its message as well.) 

A Lesson On Looking Up

Words began to flit through my mind, moving together to form phrases and sentences.  I grabbed pen and paper, took a seat in the empty room, and began writing.  Soon I was lost in the waltz of words flowing across the paper.  When the dance ended and my hand came to a rest, I lifted my head and looked up.  To my delight, I found I wasn’t alone.  Adi and Reeses had, at some point, slipped into the room and quietly settled by my chair.

As I looked at my beloved pets, I was reminded of a beautiful truth my college age niece had shared with me just weeks earlier.  She had written, “There is never a moment when we are alone.  The Lord is always there with us.”

Just like it took lifting my eyes from my writing to see a Lab lying nearby and the golden eyes of our tortoise shell cat watching me, I must also lift my eyes away from that which holds my attention to realize the Lord’s presence.

When I step outside and away from the concerns of the moment to listen to the flock of geese flying over the cornfields, I hear His presence.

When I look up from the task at hand to gaze out the windows at the trees laden with spring blossoms or aflame with fall’s color, I see His presence.

When I open the Bible and let my soul feast on the words of a Psalm, I feel His presence.

The Psalm writer David says it best when he wrote,

“ O Lord . . .You know when I sit down or when I stand up. . . You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do. . . You go before me and follow me.  You place Your hand of blessing on my head. . . If I go up to heaven, You are there;  if I go down to the grave, You are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me.”

–Psalm 139:  1-10 (New Living Translation)

What a comfort to know that when I am alone, I just need to lift my eyes to know I am not really alone.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

-Psalm 121:1-2, 5, 8

© 2019-2023, Lessons from a Lab, Beth Alisan.  All Rights Reserved.

12 thoughts on “Alone Yet Not Alone”

  2. So wise and true. I always like it when I can hear our dog whiffling in the night. It’s comforting to know he’s there. I wish I could hear God’s presence as easily, but He surely is there as well!! Blessings!!

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    1. Thank you Nora. The word “whiffling” is an excellent description of a dog’s nighttime sounds. That being said, Adi has jolted me awake on more than one occasion with her dreams that involve barking, growling, and loud tail thumping. I always wonder if she successfully catches whatever she’s chasing in that dream. Take care and have a blessed week!

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  5. PATRICIA A BURKHART

    Thank you, Beth, for the reminder that we truly are never alone if we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. What reassuring thoughts, especially in times like these. And if you have a pet, you’re never alone, as you so beautifully described.

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  6. jg buckwalter

    I’m sitting in my chair reading your blog. It is very timely and I especially love your quote from Psalms 121 and the associated picture – beautiful!

    Then I look out the window and see all the water droplets hanging from the blue berry bushes and a pair of red bellied woodpeckers on the feeder. After they leave a pair of blue jays come, and they are followed by a pair of cardinals. As I continue to watch a white throat sparrow lands in the bushes and a white bellied nuthatch lands on the roof of the feeder. By the way, the white throat sparrows are usually on their way north by April 15th. Then everything flies away in a hurry. A hawk must have flown near by. Those birds know that the hawk also knows where the feeder is. Especially the red belly, they look down only long enough to get one seed in their beak and they look up again scanning their surroundings for any danger. This reminds me of another lesson – to be alert for our enemy roams around looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

    Love you! Thanks for the words of encouragement!

    Dad

    Sent from Outlook

    ________________________________

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    1. You’re welcome. I love hearing all the different birds that are congregating at your feeder. The White throats know they have a good thing going right now and want to hang on a little longer. I’m enjoying the sounds of our latest arrivals the field sparrows and phoebe. We’re excited to see that chickadees and bluebirds are building nests in the boxes. A pair of red shoulders are regularly hunting over the fields each day. I think there is definitely a lesson to be learned there as the birds get very quiet the moment their shadow is cast on the ground.

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