Whom withstand steadfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world (1 Peter 5:9).

During times of great difficulty– be it physical, emotional, and/or spiritual– it is easy for believers to get the impression that they are alone in what they are experiencing. They may feel that they are alone because it seems that no one else is suffering quite like they are. Others may feel that they are the only ones left who truly stand for God’s purposes and that everyone else has stumbled.

These feelings of isolation are normal and represent part of the temptations that go along with suffering. The Bible is very clear, however, that no matter how we suffer, we are not alone!

Peter demonstrates here in 1 Peter 5:9 that the sufferings the brethren in Asia Minor were experiencing were shared by their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that all the temptations we face are those common to mankind– there is no sin with which we are tempted that has never tempted anyone else before. If we stopped and thought about it– or communicated with fellow believers in other places– we would soon learn that most of the challenges, difficulties, and sources of pain that we experience are quite similar to those experienced by others. We are all in the same boat!

When it comes to feeling like we are the only ones left standing for God’s truth, the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 is instructive. After defeating the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and the message of Jezebel’s wrath, Elijah was distressed and fled. Consider what he says to God:

And he said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:14).

Elijah felt like he was the only one left. Yet consider what God has to say to him:

“Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18).

Elijah might have felt as if he were alone, but God knew that there were seven thousand others who stood for Him and His truth. Just because we are not aware of others who are doing God’s will does not mean that they do not exist. We can be confident that God will always make sure that there is a remnant of His people, and that they are never really alone (Romans 11:5). After all, even if one were the last one standing with God, there is greater power on God’s side than that which is opposed to Him (1 John 4:4)!

Despair, isolation, and feelings of being alone happen quite naturally in times of distress, challenge, and/or suffering. Yet they are lies. We are not alone. There are other Christians out there who are suffering the same things we are. There are others out there striving to serve God. And, regardless of what others may do, if we seek to serve God according to His will, He will provide strength and comfort (cf. Romans 8:31-39). Let us not be deceived into thinking that we suffer alone– let us pray to God for strength and be encouraged by our fellow believers in Christ!

lesson by Ethan R. Longhenry