Quote:

“There is no one left to keep me steady now.” – Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Context:

All of us have felt like this at least once in our lives. Like there is no one there for us, at all. Needless to say, this is what the main character of Insurgent, Tris, is feeling at this point in the book. Tris has made some pretty big decisions thus far in the series, and now, she’s starting to reap some of the consequences of those decisions. And during that process, she feels very alone and lost. It’s not a fun place to be.

It reminded me of a time, three years ago, where I felt those same feelings. My family had just been forced to move away unexpectedly from the town I’d called home my whole life. That town was where I’d grown up. My grandparents were there, my cousins, my friends, everything. And it only took a matter of weeks for all of that to change. So I found myself suddenly living in a massive city where I knew absolutely nobody, and nobody knew me.

 I thought it would get better, but it didn’t. The neighbors kept to themselves, there weren't any co-ops, even the people at church didn’t seem to like my family very much. I felt so alone. But God didn’t leave me feeling that way for too long. 

One particularly lonely day, after we’d left church, I decided I needed to see the good in my situation. I started listing to myself  all the things about my life that hadn’t changed. I still had my family, my cat, I still liked reading.  And then something occurred to me. That morning, when we went to church I had been focused on how unfriendly the people were, but I forgot why we were there in the first place. To worship God. God was still here. He was the same.

We see a situation similar to this once again in the book of Genesis, when Joseph had been sold to bandits, sold again to Potifar, falsely accused of crimes against his employer’s wife, and thrown in jail. From a worldly viewpoint, Joseph was completely alone in every sense of the word. But Joseph never viewed his situation that way. He believed that God was still with him, even in the midst of these difficult circumstances. And He was! Not only was God with Joseph the whole time, but He also had been using the difficult circumstances for good. 

Sometimes, it’s all too easy to feel alone and abandoned. It’s hard to feel like anyone cares sometimes. But we need to remember that we are never truly alone. Our Heavenly Father is always with us. I realized that though my surroundings had changed, God hadn’t. I hadn’t left Him in my old home, He’d followed me to my new one, in a way. God never leaves us. He’s always there for us, always sees us, always cares for us. Even though we can’t see Him, we can take comfort in knowing He’s there. 

1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Hebrews 3:18 “"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Written by: Amara Ader