Hmmm... I've never thought about this concept before. What do you think?
"Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (John 16:32).
It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher levels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life.
No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship.
God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air.
We must dare to be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven." - Mrs C E Cowman
4 comments:
I can relate to this in many ways as this is how God 'dealt' with me for many years much before becoming a Christian, teaching me to hear His voice and long for Him above all else, even life,even then and taking me through the 'desert' places and dark valleys of my life, alone, only with Him...despite the pain of that, it is really now that I realise the privilege of God's intimacy with me that way, and the refining process. But I do think it is for God to choose those times, (we most likely would choose not to be in them when we are, if that makes sense!), and that He has a deep purpose in fellowship with each other aswell- perhaps He chooses and allows those times that even in the midst of people, it will be Him first, always.
why that came up twice, i don't know!?!
Hey! I removed your repeated post.
I think there were times at uni when I was removed from others and was alone with God, and there are times now when God is doing that, but I run away from it. I really need to be open with Him and let Him into my life again. You at least have the sense to remember what you learned in those times. It seems I immediately forget once I'm out of it. Goodness!
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