This article was originally written in the summer of 2019. We had no idea of what was ahead of us less than a year later.
Today, I received a precious email from a reader. He had read my articles on Rapture Ready, but did not know that I had a WordPress blog site. He asked for the link and I sent it to him.
He wrote back something to me that I knew I must share with the reader:
“Hey sister, I just wanted you to know, that my wife and I just read your post “The Lonely Christian” and that was a gift from God, from you to me. I am walking your walk and it is very lonely. Tears filled my eyes as I realized I am not alone.”
I do not believe that any of us could foresee these insane times which are upon us now. Our liberties have been stripped away. Our presidential election stolen so brazenly. And this Scripture sums up our world today:
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).
Original article from June 2019:
The Loneliness of the Christian in These EVIL Last Days
I said recently that my writing might be coming to an end. My husband and I prayed about this and we believe that we heard from the Lord that I have been called to write in these last days – but that I must listen carefully for His voice when I need to rest.
A reader of my articles wrote to me today and ended her email with something so precious and true – I knew that the Lord had moved on her heart to send it to me. Here it is:
The Loneliness of the Christian by A.W. Tozer
The Loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.
The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding cause them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.
The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.
He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.
It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.” source
When I finished reading this heartfelt teaching from Tozer, I broke down in tears. Not from sadness but from joy that God had seen my state of extreme loneliness, and because He loves me as He does; He directed this sister in Christ to send me such truth and comfort.
It felt like a hug from God.
But then I noticed something even more precious. A. W. Tozer had bolded this sentence:
“It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God.” And he ends with this:
“His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.”
Brethren, I truly cannot express what these words from A.W. Tozer meant to me. My husband and I have not had a church home in quite a while. I have talked about the things which happened in various churches so I do not need to write them again.
But this I will say: In most churches of which we became a part – even when the preaching was sound and thorough, I did feel so alone in the midst of most in the congregation. I knew that most found me hard to be around, and I knew that I was ostracized by many for being too zealous – too serious for the things of God. I wanted to tell others what Jesus had been doing in my life.
Of course there were a few who shared my zeal for our Savior, but that was the exception and not the rule.
I knew that I was considered by many to be a “Jesus freak’ and that is so very sad to even think about. We were there to worship our Redeemer, our Savior, our Jesus! So yes, I experienced the words of Tozer in the midst of the congregation.
But recently I have pondered this loneliness and have spoken to God in prayer about it. I have come to Him and just sat quietly in my sadness. Those are the sweetest times, not just for me, but for our Lord as well. I find in His presence the peace that does pass all understanding.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
” And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7) KJV
I realize that NOTHING can replace my time with Him. Not even the most godly saint – although it is so glorious to share my heart with such people, it cannot come close to talking with my Lord and Savior who ever waits for me to finally turn to Him in my anguish.
As we walk this earth as children of God, it is inevitable that we are at times “wounded” and the most stinging of these wounds seems to come from the brethren. We are still battling our flesh. We all make mistakes. It will not be until we receive our Glorified bodies that we will finally be free from sin and hurt and pain.
I have always loved this song by Twila Paris:
I pray for the reader that this has somehow helped you in your struggles.
It won’t be long now, and know that He NEVER takes His eyes off of you.
Shalom b’Yeshua
MARANATHA!
Amen, amen. I’ve loved Tozer’s essay and turn to it periodically to remind myself of the timelessness of his words. And Thank you for the Twila song — haven’t heard that in years; it was a favorite and still is. 🙂 <3
The Christ of the Lonely Road
I read this article in The Sword of the Lord newspaper several years ago and saved it. I wish I knew the author, but it was unlisted.
“We have heard of “The Christ of the Indian Road,” “The Christ of the American Road.” “The Christ of Every Road.” Somebody ought to write about “The Christ of the Lonely Road.”
After He fed the multitude, He went into the mountain to pray; and when evening came, he was there alone.
After He fed the multitude, He sent the disciples away on a ship and was all alone on the land. (Matt. 14:22)
When they would make Him a King, He departed into a mountain Himself alone. (John 6:15)
In Gethsemane, He prayed alone while His disciples slept. (Matt.26:36-46)
On the cross He prayed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46)
He died in the darkness; He came out of the grave alone; He appeared to the Father alone. He is the Christ of the Lonely Road.
God’s men in the Scriptures were lonely men.
Enoch’s walk with God was a lonely walk because most of his generation traveled the other way.
Moses spent lonely years in Midian and lonely days on Sinai.
Elijah stood alone on Carmel.
Micaiah was an odd number as he stood before Ahab and Jehoshaphat and four hundred false prophets.
Joseph Parker said, “The world always hates the four-hundred-and-first prophet.”
Jeremiah knew the pangs of loneliness and prayed, “Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and was waters that fail? (Jer.15:18)
He was not a popular after-dinner speaker!
Daniel was an after-dinner speaker on one occasion, but he had no complimentary ticket to the feast of Belshazzar, nor was he drinking ginger ale with the potential alcoholics. They had to send for him when God wrote doomsday on Babylon’s wall.
John the Baptist, with his leather suit and grasshopper salad, was no favorite in the king’s court and paid with his head for telling it like it was.
He was not a guest in Herod’s palace, but a prisoner in Herod’s jail.
Paul sat alone in a roman jail and said, “all men forsook me” (2 Tim.4:16)
John on Patmos was a lonely saint on a dreary island in a restless sea.
The christian is not a hermit; he must live in the world as it is, but he is often lonely in a crowd. He is a pilgrim, but not a tramp, for he knows where he is going. God’s prophet is a lonely man. When the storm comes, eagles rise above it; but little birds hide in trees! And eagles do not fly in flocks.
Whether God’s prophet or God’s people, we travel a lonely road.
The “straight and narrow” way is not the thoroughfare of the multitude; few there be who travel it. We read that on one occasion every man went unto his own house and Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives (John 7:53-8:1). It is still like that today.
That lonely road is also the only road. No man comes to the Father, but by that way. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but it ends in the ways of death. The crowd is going the other way. Even the majority of church members follow the crowd. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” (Exodus 23:2)
The Only Road is not crowded, but the fellowship is good; and there is a throng at the end of it, the host of God’s redeemed whom no man can number. It will not be lonely forever. “Where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3)
It pays to walk the Lonely Road if it is the Only Road. So let us bid farewell to the way of the world, for only the way of the cross leads home.”
Praise God for that message. Really needed to hear that sis.
Amen and amen! So well said………
God bless you, sis
This blessed me so much. Thank you!!! Longing for my heavenly home!
Yes, we are longing for our heavenly home!!
Amen!!
hello, thank you. I cried like a baby. with much love for you my sister in Christ, hugs, Debbie in S.C.
Hugs back, sweet sis
i can both lie down in peace and sleep
for You alone, Lord, cause me to dwell i safety
Bless the saints.
Amen
thank you Geri.
Thank you for the beautiful message of encouragement. My experience has been similar to yours in many ways. For the last twenty or so years I’ve had a lot of so-called brothers and sisters in Christ who have been uncomfortable to have me around them, have not liked what I had to say, even though it was Biblical truth. Most wanted ear candy, not Scriptural truth. And very few seem to really be longing for the Lord to catch us away, if they even believe it is going to happen. Indeed it is a lonely walk.
But the joy which is set before us will erase these memories. We will be with our precious Lord Jesus for ETERNITY!! Hallelujah!
Geri this is where I am today. I have zero fellowship with my family or ex church friends who worship a false god. The church here in Ontario is very heretical.. I rely on Pastor JD Farag online and others I discovered through Jan Markell. And of course there is you my dear sis.. Don’t ever stop writing as so many of us rely on you. I pray for you often and I pray that others will pray for me and other remnant Christian’s who are going through deep trials. God bless you Geri…love you.
God bless you, Joy. I love you too and pray for you and other “true” Christians who are experiencing this profound loneliness. It won’t be much longer – I truly believe this. Keep looking up……..
Thank you Geri. Praying for you too
Thank you.