We all thrive on companionship. God created us that way on purpose. He made it that way from the very beginning; humanity was to have His companionship always, we were to walk with God, and we were to have human companionship. ‘Together’ was the word of the day.

Just like a flock of birds lifting off into the air, leaving behind them silence. Just like a blizzard suddenly closing off the outside world, man forfeited his relationship with God. What for lonesomeness! Man knew his need for God. He was still there, wanting us to trust Him, but years passes, centuries passed, millenniums passed—and we forgot all about it. We were left only with humanity. Sore, sin-sick humanity. God wanted us to know Him. He tried to remind mankind of His love; he has been trying ever since. Solomon knew the great need for companionship. In the greatest sermon ever written we read his explanation of the need for friendship, companionship, togetherness. That which has been sorely lacking since man forgot about God.

“Two are better than one;”
 

Man was not meant to be alone. Companionship is the greatest source of strength. In companionship is where we find help, encouragement, and accomplishment. It’s where have support and warmth. It’s where we can grow and learn. Alone, we are weakened, we are useless. We labor hard, we throw ourselves into our work, but the night comes, it begins to rain, and our harvest is not yet in. We have had no help, we have had no encouragement. We feel alone—because we are alone.

“because they have a good reward for their labour.”
 

There’s a reason why ‘teamwork’ is so heavily encouraged by employers. What one person cannot accomplish alone can be done by a group of people working towards the same goal. We can bring in the harvest before the rain. We can finish the barn before the winter. We can reach our goals. We have a good reward for our labor together. But alone, we have no reward, we cannot accomplish our goals. We fill our stomachs with chaff. We watch our buildings crumble—because we’re alone.

“For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”

Encouragement, help… This is what we really want in a friend; somebody to help us up when we’re down, to strengthen us when we’re weak, and to lift us up. And sometimes we’re privileged with friends like that. When we’re not, we begin to feel the effects of marching alone. We stumble, but there is no-one to keep us from falling. We fall, but there is no-one to help us up—because we’re alone.

“Again if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?”
 

This is what loneliness is. It’s the beginning of a chill, we curl into a ball, we try to find warmth, but “how can one be warm alone?” When we’re the only companion we have… What good are we? We lay down, but we cannot sleep. We’re cold, but there’s nobody to keep us warm. We get up and exercise, but the efforts are futile. We shiver; we shake—because we’re alone.

“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;”
 

We reach the battle field, alone. What good are we? We are weakened already, we are cold, we are sore, and we are alone. How can we expect to win the battle? We draw our sword, but alone we fall. There is nobody to bandage our wounds. There is nobody to care. What good have we done? We have marched alone, we have worked alone, we have fallen alone, we have slept alone, we have shivered alone, we have fought alone, and we have lost alone. Our efforts have been in vain, they have been useless, futile, wasted. We crawl home—alone.

What then was the secret of Joseph, of Daniel, of Moses? How did they manage to survive alone? Or were they alone? How did they work alone, and reach their goal? Who steadied them when they stumbled? Who helped them up when they fell? Where did they find warmth to survive? How did they conquer alone? Or were they alone?

“Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Dan 3:24

Were they alone? They should have been. The king thought they were. He thought they would fall. But they didn’t. What was the secret?

It is the secret that has been passed down since creation. It is the secret that is written verse after verse in the Bible. It’s the same mystery that caused the martyrs to be able to go to the stake singing. They were not alone. They had a companion, the same companion that you and I can have. We don’t need to do time travel to go back to the time of Daniel to see what it was that gave them strength, or who it was that was with them. We have the same companion today. If we dedicate our lives to God, He will, and has promised, to be with us, to lead us, and to bring us through the darkness. It is He who has kept hearts for ages, and will keep our hearts if they have been committed to Him. It is He, whom—although all earthly friends may fail—will be at our side, steadying us, lifting us up, flooding us with His warmth, strengthening us in battle, and binding our wounds. What if we don’t have any earthly companion? What if we are physically alone? What if we long for earthly friendship? All good things come to those who wait on God, but what if we are called for a time to stand alone?

We may experience human loneliness; we may feel like we are the only one on the road. But we are not alone. We cannot be alone. For those who are alone have no companion. And for an exercise in understatement we can say, “We have a companion.” For he is more than a companion, more than a guide, more than help, more than strength, more than all of the world, He is our GOD. He surpasses all. Yet he passes nothing.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

David felt it, he knew it. Without God, oh man, who art thou? Oh, we are alone, more alone than alone. There’s loneliness and then there’s loneliness. Separate from God… there is no greater state of forlornness. Human companionship cannot be compared to God’s companionship, and God’s companionship cannot be compared to human companionship. Both are important aspects of our lives, both are desired, both are good. One is necessary, the other is not. If we only have God, we are never alone. If we only have friends, we are always alone.

How many of us have seen people, alone while with friends. It’s somewhat oxymoronic I agree; yet there is so much truth to it. Particularly in people our age, young people. We see them on Main St. socializing with their friends, crowding the various haunts. Together, yet alone—more alone than you or I can ever be with God beside us. They are empty, they try to fill the space with what the world offers, but the cavernous feeling is still there. They want a friend, but they don’t want a God. They want a companion, but they don’t want a Savior. They want help, but they don’t want faith. Thus I say, alone while with friends. Alone because they have nobody to live for, and nobody to die for.

We have a mutual friend, and a God. If we place our lives in His hands, we can trust him to bring us what we need, what is advantageous, and for him to take that which is not. We can trust him to give us what we ask for in due time. Can we really mourn if we ‘have no friends’? Should we? Or should we see it as God reaching His hand down into our lives, and asking us to take a hold of it more firmly, that he may lead us into greener pastures? Will God withhold from His child what is meet? Or will he consistently guide us toward the better, the higher, the best and highest? Let us place our trust in God, to fulfill our life, to give us what is good. “And all these things shall be added unto us.”

“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
 

With this promise ringing in our hearts, let us step forward confidently, knowing that we are not alone, and knowing that we can depend on somebody to be there for us, always. Let us stand where the Lord asks us to stand, walk where he calls us to walk, and march where he calls us to battle. He will stand by. He will be there. May God be with you!