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Do you ever feel alone? Do you feel like you just can’t face another day without some help? Does it feel like everything is always going wrong? Jesus promised us a Helper and an Advocate, so that you wouldn’t have to face anything alone.

When Jesus was on earth, He taught His disciples and guided them, but as He prepared to ascend to heaven, He promised to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to take His place and to live with the disciples, and by extension us, forever. (John 14:16) Since Jesus and the Father are one, when Jesus asked the Father for something, it happened, but the promise was predicated on a condition.

In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Love here is not a sentiment or an emotion, but a commitment and dedication to Jesus that was demonstrated by obeying Him. Everything that is taught by Jesus in the gospels and throughout the New Testament is there for us to learn from and to follow so that we might be more like Christ. Even though every day brings trials that we must face and deal with, our responsibility is to continue to follow Christ. In Matthew 6:33, we are told that we need to pursue His kingdom and His righteousness above all else. If we do we what we are responsible for, He will take care of the rest. And we know that nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37, Luke 18:27, Mark 10:27)

I can’t promise you that things won’t keep going wrong. As a matter of fact, I can pretty much guarantee that they will, (John 16:33) but you don’t have to face them alone. If you have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and gift of eternal life, and if you strive to obey His commandments, the Holy Spirit will be right there beside you and within you to be your Helper and your Advocate.

Do you ever feel lonely? I spend a lot of time alone, but that is not necessarily when I feel the loneliest. Sometimes I feel the most lonely when I am in a crowd--when I am surrounded by people, but none of them are talking to me or seem to care about me at all. Do you ever feel that way? Jesus knows how you feel. He was surrounded by people who mocked and tortured Him, and He had no one on His side.

When Jesus was arrested and then sentenced to death, His disciples all fled from Him or denied Him; the people, the Pharisees and the experts in the law were all against Him, but as He hung on that cross, nothing hurt so much as being separated from His Father. (Mark 15:34) God had to turn His back on Jesus, His Son, even though they had lived in communion with each other since before the world began. Because God is holy, He could not accept us who are unholy into His presence. Only the life of His perfect Son could be an acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sins that have been inbred in us since Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of Satan in the Garden of Eden. While our sin was on Christ, He was separated from His Father. That was the greatest rejection in history, and yet Christ chose to endure it so that all people since then could have a personal relationship with God. We can be adopted into God’s family, and Jesus can become our brother and our friend. Even when we do not have any other person around us that we can talk to, when it seems like no one understands us, we still have Jesus. We will never be put into the position that Jesus was put in. Because of Him, we will always have someone to turn to. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells that Jesus understands everything we have ever been through or will ever go through, and the invitation is extended to come to Him boldly when we need help. We are invited to cast all our burdens on Him because He cares for us. (I Peter 5:6-7)

The next time you are feeling lonely, take time to talk to Jesus. Ask Him to help you through your time of sadness, and to know that you are not alone. Lay all your cares at His feet. He understands.