A long time on the road has deep blessings and knowledge of the love and wisdom of God. To walk with him is the most precious thing and to feel his nearness is the remedy for every ill. The scriptures are in your hand and mind and heart, and the recall of them brings relief from terror and hurtfulness. The Apostle was right in saying that to know him and the power of his resurrection, is the Christian’s daily experience.

And yet there are times and situations that bring us especial difficulties, and it can seem that there is no one to talk with, or share, or ask questions that are weighing us down. These are times when we have no others to support us, and often, when the way gets hard and the going is tedious and worrying, we feel very alone.

To walk only with Him, is what we are aiming for, a place when his voice only, is our comfort and guide. To be so fortunate to have walked along with him and remain in Him, is the only thing. To bear his imprint in our lives, so that we need no other and to have his character continually impressed on our minds, so that we leave behind the earthly consolations and are satisfied with the Lord.

Why do our difficulties get the better of us? Why do we feel so cast down and perturbed about life? We do not need to be, as he is in complete control and has all things set out for our good and eternal blessing. To hope in him is a true and dependable state of mind, that will last.

His purposes are to make us to stand and even to stand alone for his sake. What if all Christian help and goodwill were taken away? What if people turned against you for some reason you didn’t know? What if you do take a stand for Christ and his purposes, but no one wants to know? Jesus will never leave you, or allow you to suffer unnecessarily, and he will spread the table of his delights before you, in a way that others will never know.

He is the living and glorious Lord, and if we remain in him, we can never fail, and he will bring us safely through everything and teach you his holy ways and will. This is what the Christian wants above all else. The unbelieving heart has no taste for this, or any desire to fight for it, never mind to perhaps suffer. Only those who truly know Him and have seen and submitted to him, can ever appreciate what it means to belong.

Once to have tasted that joy of his presence, makes earthly pleasures fade and seem insipid in comparison. To draw aside from the preoccupations of life and spend time in the presence of the Master, becomes more and more attractive. As our hold on this life and its business becomes less, so we are increasingly thoughtful of the spiritual life and what is being stored up for us in heaven. And conversely, this impacts on our earthly life to make us more aware and careful to follow Christ and be witnesses for him, and the light of his presence shines more in us as the time goes past.

However, the Christian is not meant to manage alone and God sets us in fellowships so that we can relate, share and support each other. When we are troubled, how good it is to have a loving family member or friend to speak to and help us in the way of Christ. It is a real and deliberate blessing from God to have a spiritual family to rely on and a group of people to guide us and point us in the right direction. To have a husband or wife to walk through life with, is an untold treasure, and that relationship should be fostered as no other. At times we can find ourselves justifying our lack of interest with home to follow “God’s service.” This is not God’s way and we ignore these precious relationships at our peril.

It is wonderful to be able to talk about problems we have, but sometimes this can get out of hand and we rely on Christian council, more than the scriptures and our personal walk with God and we stop asking for wisdom for our own minds. My individual walk with Jesus is so important, and is the main thing to pursue and develop.

If we should find ourselves in a situation where we are let down and disappointed and all others leave us, our prayer is that we will know him so well, that his power will be known in us and that we will walk consistently and powerfully in his ways. To seek to tell out that mighty love and bring many to the right path, means we must walk and not baulk at trouble or hardship, because that will lead us nearer and nearer to the one we love.