The final episode of ‘Alone,’ a
show on the History channel that placed ten men on Vancouver Island with a
minimal amount of gear and cameras to record their adventure. But, they had no contact with each
other. Their lifeline was a satellite
phone.
Some gave in almost immediately,
but two held on for weeks, the second to the last giving up on the
55th day. The last man
probably could have gone on for several more weeks, if not months.
The thing that hit them the
hardest, even more than lack of food, fierce storms and other essentials was the
isolation from society and their families in particular.
Some ‘psyched’ themselves out,
dwelling so much on their predicament that they couldn’t focus on working within
their environment. They were all trained
in survival techniques, but none of them had experienced the challenges of an
environment that they were dropped into – being unprepared, mentally, some broke
early – others took several weeks to finally give in and go home.
Because they were filming
themselves, we could see the progression of their mental and physical state over
time. The longer they stayed the more
weight they lost, the more important food became to them and the feeling of
isolation became a physical burden to them.
It was reflected not only in their recorded thoughts, but also in the
physical pain they were enduring.
It was an interesting
program. It makes those oh-dark-thirty
moments we go through seem like nothing.
These men had no way to avert their thoughts. They had nothing but survival to distract
them. They had to live and deal with
those inner-most things that all of us try to hide and not deal with – they
either overcame, or were overcome by those memories, it was a struggle with
one’s self.
As the last one said, “It is
just you, the Creator and the Creation.”
Psalm 107:8-9 Oh that men would
praise the Lord for
his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of
men!
9 For he satisfieth the
longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with
goodness.
We
all too often focus on our trials and forget all the things God has done for
us. We become distressed at our burdens
and forget that it is carried by Jesus.
We
boast of our abilities, forgetting they are gifts of God. We look at our endeavors and pat ourselves on
our back for our accomplishments, forgetting that they are gifts of God.
We
rejoice over our children and brag about their undertakings, forgetting that
they, too, are gifted by God.
We
fall into the well of self-pity asking ‘why me?’ instead of asking, ‘Lord how
can you use this for our glory?’
We
look at sunrises, sunsets, the beauty of the landscape and are in awe over their
magnificence, forgetting to praise God who created it all.
A
person comes to us in sorrow, and we forget that God is touching his heart and
wants to reach out to Him. Instead of
praising God and guiding Him with scripture, allowing the Holy Spirit to comfort
them, we give worldly advice and comments.
We
have an obligation to God. An obligation
to Praise Him; to thank Him; and to share Him.
Mathew
28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
Too
often we read verses such as these and think it only applies to those that are
in full-time ministry. After all they
have the training and the responsibility to tell others, teach others, baptize
others; we aren’t in the ministry so it doesn’t relate to us.
But
it does. While we may seldom have the
opportunity to baptize others we can – and many of us have – but we do have the
opportunity AND the obligation to share our faith with others. To teach and disciples others.
Being
a Christian is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week relationship with God. We may need to be reminded from time to time
– and the best time to have that conversation is the first thing in our
day. We may meditate at a different
time, but just contacting Him, thanking Him for the gift of life and asking Him
to guide our steps this day, is enough to help us realize we are His, not our
own.
Colossians
4:6
Let your speech
be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to
answer every man.
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the
hungry soul with goodness.
What a wonderful gift God has
given to us, we need to share it with others allowing them, too, to experience
the great comfort and love of God.
Later, Art :-)
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