You Are Not Alone
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10
Have you ever felt alone?
This was a question I asked the kids during children’s church this week. Many of them said yes — they feel alone often. They shared that when their friends are absent at school, when no one sits with them at the lunch table or plays with them at recess, or when they’re being ignored after an argument, they feel alone. One child said, “Sometimes I have to walk the track at school all by myself because no one wants to go with me. I feel very alone when that happens.”
We read Psalm 139:7–10 three times: once together, once with their eyes closed, and then one more time with their eyes closed because the kids asked me to read it again. They told me, “It’s beautiful.” And they were absolutely right.
After hearing the words, I asked them a couple of questions:
How does knowing God is with you help?
Does God only stay with us when we’re good?
Their answers were simple, honest, and deeply true: “We are never truly alone, and God stays with us whether we are good or bad. He loves us so much.”
Jonah ran away from God, but God never ran away from him. Jonah was thrown overboard by the sailors, but God did not throw him away. Jonah sat in the belly of a great fish, but he was not by himself. Jonah traveled to Nineveh to minister to people who were sinful and hated by others, but he did not go there alone.
No matter if you are in the heavens or in the depths, on the mountains or in the valleys, in the belly of a fish or alone on the track at school, God is with you.
Jesus, thank You for never leaving us alone. Help us remember that Your presence is with us in every moment — in our fear, our loneliness, and even in the depths. Remind us that nothing can separate us from Your love.
