You Are Not Alone
When the angel appeared to Mary, he had some assuring words for her. We read this in Luke 1:28: “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
You are not alone.
Christmas is probably the loneliest time of year for many people. We live in a world where families rarely stay in the same town anymore. And each Christmas scores of people find themselves alone and sad because their family isn’t there.
Many people face tremendous grief at Christmas time. Missing somebody you love who has died is a particularly painful feeling at Christmas.
I imagine Mary felt very much alone, during the months that followed this encounter with the angel. She would have undoubtedly been the object of great scandal in her hometown. A young girl falls pregnant before she’s married with some wild story about an angel, and God being the Father.
Finding Solace in Faith Amidst Isolation and Adversity
I can just imagine the scorn she faced.
I can imagine her friends drifting out of her life, too ashamed to be associated with her.
I can imagine her family berating her, disbelieving her story.
I can imagine the religious community of which she was a part condemning her.
Even Joseph, at first, wanted to break off their engagement. Can you imagine the conversation she would have had with him, trying to explain all of this?
Picture Mary alone, sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. Weeping. Feeling utterly isolated. But through the tears she’s holding onto something. She’s holding onto the words spoken by the angel: “Mary, you are highly favoured, the Lord is with you!!”
Picture Mary in her darkest moments, her most painful and sad and humiliated moments, saying to herself “the Lord is with me…” “I’m NOT alone”… “He’s HERE!”
I sat in hospital in March last year for a few weeks. I remember it being a particularly lonely time. I would wake up early, as you always do in hospital. Busy myself with a magazine or some YouTube videos, or some music. After a while I’d think it must be close to visiting hour! But it would turn out to only be 7:30am. It took forever for those two hour-long slots to come each day, and when they did, they came and went way too fast.
Finding Comfort in God's Presence During Loneliness
A lonely time, but I remember writing a song (which I still need to record for my Hospital Songs album!) which went like this:
Between the beeps of the machines, the silence and the screams, I hear Him
Between the needles in my veins, the numbness in my brain, I feel Him
He’s here! Right here!
In every corner of the ward, every second that I’m bored
He’s here! Right here!
Through every long and draining day I’m not alone in any way
He guides me, He holds me, He loves me and He’s told me
That through everything… He’s here
I know that for some of you, this Christmas is going to be a lonely one. But please friends, hold onto the words of this angel. Hold onto them tightly. Don’t let go of them!
Remember day after day, that even if you’re lonely… you’re never alone. He’s here, through it all.
