In a Crowd Yet All Alone - Encouragement Café - November 10, 2016

In a Crowd Yet All Alone
By Luann Prater
Thursday, November 10, 2016

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.  Ephesians 1:13 NKJV

Seven hundred and fifty women, and I was just one of the many.  That familiar feeling crept from my stomach and into my head.

You don't belong here,it whispered. 

I looked around and saw hundreds of polished Patties who had their act together.  I clearly, did not.

Whether in a packed arena or an intimate luncheon, the 'feeling' of not belonging snakes into my mind.  And it really doesn't matter how much time passes, it still happens.

Maybe you've been there, lost in a crowd. 

It's at those very moments that we face a choice: To believe the 'feeling', or Announce the Truth.

Can I be honest?

I don't always make the right choice.  If I allow that 'feeling' to set up camp in my brain, the photo album of secluded moments flips wildly through lonely times.  And I sink.

Here's what I've learned along the way.  If I recognize the moment for what it truly is, a lie, I can turn the channel.  I announce, OUT LOUD the truth,

I am NEVER ALONE!

The whisper of you don't belong morphs into you are sealed with Me!

And if I lean into this Truth when I'm the most vulnerable, in a crowd of 750, God always illuminates another soul for me to notice.  He whispers,

See her, she needs to know the Truth that she is not alone either.

It's at that moment, when my view turns from inward to outward, and that sealed promise comes alive.  Suddenly the impact of belonging overwhelms me and I must wrap up the lonely in this message.

Today, I felt alone in a crowd.  He pressed in and reminded me that you're feeling that way too. 

I'm choosing YOU today!

I will not believe the whisper, instead I will Announce the Truth to me and to you.   We are never alone, we've been sealed with a promise.

{{{ I'm cyber hugging you right now}}}

Listen to His whisper.  A woman near you needs to know the Truth too.

Father, thank You for reminding us that we are never alone.  Whisper that truth each time we feel secluded.   Help us have eyes to see others who need to hear that same Truth.  In Jesus' Name, amen.

© 2016 by Luann Prater.  All rights reserved.

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