Genesis 2:18b It is not good that the man should be alone;

There have been times in my life when I felt alone in a crowd. Obviously you cannot be alone in a crowd, but the sense of being alone doesn’t have anything to do with your present surroundings. It is emotional and therefor does not have to be based on reality. Perception is after all a condition of the individual mind, particular to the one affected.

I have tried looking at this from the origin identified in scripture and find little that causes me to understand that which Adam was experiencing that I could draw upon. Adam had God to walk with daily. God shared His creation with Adam. God gave Adam work and responsibility. Nothing was indicated that Adam was not up to those tasks.

The thing unsaid holds the key. Unspoken emotion was the cause for God’s concern for Adam. God knew what was going on in Adam’s heart, even if Adam did not know how to express it. Alone is a singular state of emotional existence, the word itself defines the emotion. The emotion is real even if the reality is not. But why?

Over time I have come to know God, who He is in my life and what He has done for me. God loves me and has provided for me. The nature of God’s love is perfect and true. It has effect upon those who experience that love. Perfect love all about selflessness. Perfect love needs an object of reflection. One cannot know that your love is real unless it has a recipient, an object of affection.

Alone is the absence of a reflective object of affection. If you do not have that connection of affection, no amount of people crowding in on you can take your loneliness away.

I heard a song today with the lyrics “All I need is Jesus.” Not teue. I need someone to share Jesus with.

John 14:27b my peace I give unto you

Have you ever been given a sales pitch that talks about an introductory offer? It usually details great benefits or savings which are only available right now. This is one of those things which makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. My experiences say whatever I got for a “good deal” was coming with hidden cost I don’t want. Every offer comes with a down side. Except one.

In 1963 I was a troubled youth with anger issues. In church one day I said in my heart “I don’t want to be this way.” When I raised my hand to the alter call, I met Jesus and He gave me His peace. Mind you, I had no idea that this was nothing but an introductory offer. I receive the answer to my prayer, faint and misled as it might have been, my anger disappeared.

I was so focused on the anger being gone, that I did not recognize that the peace was my first encounter with Jesus. No stipulations were give, no conditions were identified, peace was mine and it has never been taken away, altered, or in any way used against me.

It was the first gift, but not the last. If I had recognized it for what it really was, I would have paid closer attention to the other offers that were lying in wait for me to accept. I could have received the abundant life much earlier than what I did. I would have caused less pain in other people’s lives had I known.

The free gifts of my Lord and Savior may come to me but they are meant to enrich the lives of everyone I touch.