‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed,’ Mark 1:35.

“I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me,” Jeremiah 15:17.

A solitary person is alone, and yet can be together with himself and therefore, enjoys his own company. However, in loneliness, a person is actually alone, seemingly deserted by all others.

The one who needs to hear from God must learn to walk alone, for in the company of many, the voice of the spirit cannot be heard.

When I look back over my life I can remember many times when I sought to be alone.

There are many times even now, that I treasure those times, and yet there are moments when one can feel lonely even when they know that they are surrounded by others that they love and that love them.

I believe that the walk that has been laid out for me is one of being alone many times.

One can feel separated and perhaps even as a recluse at times because of this calling, and yet, I believe that it is necessary.

Those who are prophets tend not to have such grand hopes for God’s call. T hey know all too well that the call of God upon them to speak hard truths is paved with great pain and difficulty.

The prophet’s road is lonely not because he or she escapes the activity of everyday life in order to retreat and draw near to God.

On the contrary, the prophet’s road is lonely because he is called to the most troubled corners of the world, those places which exist that we would rather ignore.

The prophet’s road is lonely because he must speak boldly to a world that is in disarray and doesn’t even know it.

The prophet sees the world as it really is while we see the prophet and marvel that he is walking on the ceiling.

The prophets of the past differed in many ways from each other, but one thing that stood out in common was their enforced loneliness.

They loved the people but their loyalty to the God of their forefathers, and their zeal for the welfare of the nation of Israel, caused them to retreat from others and find their sense of direction and wisdom from the God that they served.

“I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children,” cried one and unwittingly spoke for all the rest,” Psalm 69:8.

When someone is in solitude, they may actually be set free. Jesus often went alone away from the disciples and others, to find a quiet place to pray.

He needed to hear the voice of the Father, and to know what next he was to do.

We can feel ultimately alone, even in a crowd, or among our friends or families, at times. Being around people does not necessarily prevent someone from feeling lonely.

They may feel isolated for many reasons. A person may feel like they just don’t fit-in with others because they sense they are different from them in some way.

And yet it isn’t healthy to be alone all the time. We need to know that there are other souls within our midst.

God has set us in fellowship with others and because of this then we can see how we share in the many circumstances and experiences of life.

None of us should be such an island unto themselves that they cannot share their lives with others.

The pang of life can come rushing in at times. It can awaken those times in the past when we have felt utterly alone and perhaps even deserted.

When those times come and they will, we must know that we never walk alone because the One who has called us, now walks beside us, and is “in us.”

And so no matter how alone or lonely one may feel at times, knowing that He who has always walked with us, will walk with us unto the end.

Oftentimes when I have been alone in nature, the trees and the hillsides have spoken to my heart telling me, or causing me to reflect back upon my life.

And then there are other times when alone in nature, that the spirit will show me things to come. Allow those times to well-up within you.

Train yourself to find those moments, those times, when you can hear the Spirit talk to you.

I am certain that our Lord walked many roads alone at times, even though there were always His disciples and others around Him.

He needed those times alone with the Father to know how to give an answer to those who would attempt to trip him up, or to challenge His authority.

One must always come to the fountain in order to drink from the well. We cannot expect to collect the truth unless we come to the source.

George Gordon Byron:

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods.
There is a rapture on the lovely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and music in its roar.
I love not man the less, but Nature more.”

Arthur Schopenhauer:

“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone,
and if he does not love solitude, he will not
love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that
he is really free.”

Emerson:

“Guard well your spare moments. They are like
uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value
will never be known. Improve them and they will
become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

First published: May 30, 2018.

Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson

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Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to the LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?

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