I was reading a missionary update from our friends in Paris--Rob and Nichole P__ --and it said that of all the people who live in Paris, 50% live alone. I was astounded by that. I was chatting about it via Instant Messenger with Nichole yesterday and I remembered an experience I had in LA that I wanted to share.

I have been to Los Angeles several times and on one particular trip I was struck by the complexity of their highway system. LA was built for cars and earthquakes...so the skyscrapers are spread out and the downtown area isn't as concentrated as it is in a Mid-Western city like Columbus.

Driving on the highways here you will notice there is a diamond lane...a carpool or an HOV lane. HOV stands for High Occupancy Vehicle. This lane is closest to the median and the only vehicles that can be in that lane are ones that have a "high occupancy". What is interesting to me is that their definition of High Occupancy doesn't mean that your back seat has to be full, but that you only have to have 2 people in the car!

On this particular trip I had a passenger with me so I was able to take advantage of driving through LA in the HOV lane, no traffic, at speeds up to 65mph. However we noticed the other 5 lanes of traffic just sat there not moving, while we were zooming by. I was amazed to see so many cars and people that were going somewhere all alone.

This Scripture out of Genesis came to my mind:
And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion...."
Genesis 2:17

Prior to this passage God had called everything he made good...the sun, the moon, the plants, the animals, everything..."It was good." Then he gets to this spot and he sees a person all alone and God says, "This is NOT good."

We weren't made to be alone. God isn't even alone...He lives in a community of three, The Trinity--Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

The invitation to come into right relationship with God involves not only a personal and individual change...but moves a person from doing life INDEPENDENTLY to doing life within a FAMILY. God's Family is part of the joy of coming to know Him.

All families have their issues and God's Family isn't any different. However when one is apart of God's family, you feel a sense of peace and comfort knowing that you aren't all alone out there facing this world. You have brothers and sisters who care, who will pray for you, lift you up and who you can pray for as well. That is what being apart of God's family is all about.

Some of you might be thinking....'yes, that is nice but the Lord is omnipresent and therefore always with me, so I am never alone'. And isn't that a wonderful gift the Lord has given us! That no matter where I am, God is always with me. But we still need to see God with skin on Him...at least I do.

And that's what the family of God is...God with skin on Him. The family of God is how we as humans get to know, see and feel his character in a real way. People you can connect with in a safe and non-threatening environment. People with whom you can share your frustrations with when it feels like your prayers aren't being heard.

It helps me to remember that I am an Ambassador for Christ. When Jesus left this earth, He gave us the privilege of not only being His representatives but the Holy Spirit as well to help guide us. In our everyday lives we can choose to stand in Jesus' place. We are Jesus with skin. We are the embracing arms of God to others in His family.

If you follow Jesus...You're not alone, you are part of a FAMILY!

Originally written for thequest June 16,2004 and can be found here

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