Alejandra Tash

I cannot believe that this is our fourth week of this Love Yourself Challenge! It has been a wild one, like who would’ve thought that the answer to my scars would be looking at them as though they were a mosaic piece of art, and that I can actually love the finished work of art! And who would think that having an Identity crisis would lead me to finding me, my purpose and lead me into destiny? The last week we learned that we needed to dream quietly, so that God can develop our dreams and visions? And today the last week, we’ll be talking about about “Lonely Love”, which is when you believe that in order to get to your destination, you may need to do it alone. Well for me, I am as stubborn as it gets. T.D. Jakes, one of my favorite preachers, says that you are only as good as the people around you, but what if you are walking this journey alone?

Why Am I So Lonely?

After God removed so many out of my life, I was afraid to let anyone else in for fear that they would leave me too. I was letting my past experiences dictate who would be in my future. If you’re like me, you experience great pain when he removes those people. Though I needed them to leave—because God had not called them to join me on this journey—it still hurt. And so, in many cases I felt lonely, and overwhelmed with lessons I was currently learning. I confess that it was–and is–still hard for me to be vulnerable. But in fact, again, I learned that Moses also went through a similar experience.  In Exodus 18: 14-18 we see that Moses’ father-in-law advises him on handling God’s people and their problems,

“What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

¹⁵ Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.

Moses thought that he could handle it all alone and this is the same misconception I had as well. After God removed so many from my life, it was so painful that I never wanted to rely on people again; and if I’m honest, I have to say this was all pride; I felt like I could do it all alone.  I don’t need anyone in order to fight for me or with me. And so I had mentioned to Marsha that I felt lonely, and she stated that it wasn’t because I was alone. It was because I was unwilling to accept the help that has been placed around me. Now how do I identify these individuals?

Who’s Going to Stand With Me?

I have to say that it isn’t hard to identify who should be with you in difficult times, because in my most difficult times I have learned that the ones I least expect are there. My husband is certainly one of them, but so are my TTW family who remain persistently there during times of heartache. You see when we are the most broken, this is when God will sent individuals to pinpoint those who are to walk you through life and mentor you in the process. If you’ve noticed I have written in many blogs and articles the advice that I have received from my husband, Marsha or by other truth bearers. But in the last couple weeks I have been going through heart wrenching emotions that I truly felt like Moses did in Exodus 17:11-13,

 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Those who are meant to be with you are those God sends your way in a storm or battle. No need to go campaigning for friends, God will sent them and when He does, you’ll know. The people God chose for you are not far away, we just need to believe that they are coming.  And it isn’t just one person; there were two people holding up Moses’ hands while Joshua was at the bottom fighting the battle. Moses had his hands up to God in worship and Aaron held his hand as well as Hur.  The weight of the battle was not just on Joshua or Moses, but it took everyone to have that victory.

You Are Never Alone

If Jesus had 12 disciples and three of them were his best of friends than why do we think we can do this alone? You and I cannot fight alone, we need as many people as God chooses to send us. And during this time where I was going through emotions that were over taking me, God sent so many! He sent word after word whenever I lost faith, whenever I was feeling doubtful, whenever I needed a boost to keep on fighting. The biggest lie I have believed is that I can do this faith walk alone. Just because God removed people, doesn’t mean that He wouldn’t place new ones for His purpose.

Now let me tell you, during the times alone is when the enemy had a field day with me. The Bible says that we are sheep amongst wolves, and though sheep do not have much power, indeed together they are stronger. The Bible has given us many relationships to look at to see the power of two: Elijah and Elisha, Moses and Jethro, Moses and Joshua. There are so many Bible verses who speak of the need of friends in our lives.  Here are some,

Proverbs 18:24

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Genesis 2:18

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Proverbs 27:17

    As Iron sharpens Iron, so one person sharpens another

Today we understood the importance of good friendships and how lonely it can feel when one pushes away those whom God has sent to us to be our safe place.

Let’s Pray,

Lord help us embrace the people you have sent to us, and help identify those whom you have put in our paths to help get to our destination. Lord take away any pain we may feel because of the one who have already left us, and help our hearts trust those whom you have entrusted our hearts to. In Jesus name we pray amen!

Weekly Challenge:

For the next 7 Days think about 7 things that keeps you from being vulnerable to others.  Why do you struggle with trusting others.  It could be for valid reasons but list them anyway.  It is an opportunity for God to speak to you and heal areas that may be hold you back from having that person by your side.

We have learned so far about being beautifully shattered and then we learned about how to find our calling and purpose through an identity crisis. Then we learned about loving ourselves by dreaming quietly and today we are learning about embracing those whom God has put in our lives to help us in our daily walk. I challenge you to really look around and see if there are people in your walk whom you are rejecting and are truly assigned to you for a purpose. Ask God to help you in this area and do your part to embrace those—not hurt those—whom God has given you. It has been such a pleasure to be with you all during this season and another LYC (Love Yourself Challenge). I am so grateful for you our faithful Through The Winters Family, and know that we are all praying for you.

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