Today has been joyful and I even completed a few chores. I awakened to six inches of snow, which made everything especially beautiful. It’s also meant that the office where I work on Fridays is closed, so I’ve enjoyed a day getting things done in my home. With the help of a friend who knew how to remotely control my computer, my new printer is connected, and I can now receive and send emails again.

I trust you made it through all three holidays without any depression or a “woe is me” day or two. I made it through a Christmas dinner with tables of eight and an empty chair beside me and standing alone as the photographer snapped a picture. With three widows and a couple of husbands and wives at the table, someone would, of course, be next to an empty chair. This time it just happened to be me. It was a great night with good food and wonderful music, so I chose to concentrate on the privilege of being there.

I thought I had passed the season well for another year. But the last day of 2024 at the eye doctor’s office, I unexpectedly felt the sting of being alone. The waiting room was filled with husbands and wives interacting with each other. Most of the patients there expected their eyes to be dilated and would need help returning home. Although I wouldn’t need help, I had no one to talk with and felt alone sitting in the crowded waiting room. I was prepared for being alone at the special Christmas dinner and other seasonal activities, but this caught me off guard and left me with a bit of sadness for the rest of the day.

Sometime during the day, I was reminded of Hebrews 13:5: “…and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”  Later, I also thought of the last words of Jesus before He was taken into heaven: “And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus’ last statement was meant to be a comfort to this group of early believers. They would never touch or see Him in this life again. They would never hear Him teach. They may have thought they would never see another miracle and that this phenomenal phase of their lives was over. They had no idea what their future lives would be like without Him. Who would lead them and provide for them? Who would tell them the right way to live?

Since these were normal people like you and me, I think these questions came to their minds. Jesus had told them He would send another Counselor—the Holy Spirit who would be with them always (John 14:16). But sometimes it’s hard to remember a promise when in a crisis.

This “always with you” promise is for us, as well as those early believers. It was the Holy Spirit that reminded me of Hebrews 13:5 that afternoon when I felt so alone. As 21^st Century believers, we may not be able to physically see and touch the Lord, but we can sense His presence with us as we are reminded of His promises. In our times of aloneness, we can be assured that He will “never leave us nor forsake us.”