Alone

“Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone (Genesis 2:18a).’”

Lake Vostok, Antarctica is the darkest place on earth. It is a fresh water lake, roughly the size of Lake Ontario, buried beneath 2 miles of ice. Because of the pressure of the ice on the lake, the water is able to stay in a liquid state at only 27 degrees. Scientists hope to find new species of life submerged in these dark, isolated waters. Yet, there is one, glaring problem. No one can find a way into Lake Vostok.

While Lake Vostok is dark, it may not actually be the darkest place on earth. In fact, the darkest place on earth may not be geographic at all. The darkest place on earth may be within us.

When pressures mount we tend to submerge. We submerge our feelings, hurts, disappointments, and fears until they become a subterranean lake hidden beneath a shelf of hypocrisy. We wear a mask, a glazed, icy stare hoping to hide the hurt. In a crowd we feel alone, isolated, inaccessible.

It is not good for man to be alone.

When we are alone we lose perspective. We actually believe no one understands, our situation is unique, there is no hope. We create our own isolated version of self; a new species we feel to be suffering like no other.

People need people. It is not good for man to be alone. God is ever present without people, but God also administers his grace to people, through people. People in community have an incredible ability to administer forgiveness, accountability, relationship, and release. People are able to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). People are able to empathize with other people. We are able to feel sorrows and joys that are not our own (Rom. 12:15).

You may be in a dark place. Perhaps you are praying desperately for God to release your subterranean lake, but it seems there is no answer. Yet, you will share your darkness with no one. No one knows how you feel, other than God. Ironically, the answer to your prayer is probably people. For Adam, even though he was in the presence of God, he was alone. God sends people into our lives to dig, to break through the ice and expose dark places. The Body of Christ has the unique ability to administer the life of Christ to one another in the Holy Spirit.

About Adam, God said, “It is not good that man should be alone.” The answer to Adam’s “aloneness” was not to simply bask in the presence of God Almighty, to pray incessantly, or to sing praises eternally. The answer to Adam’s “aloneness” was a person, the woman, in this case the community of marriage, “I will make him a helper fit for him.” Although Adam was perfectly in the presence of God, God’s will for him was to be in community with another person. Only then would Adam be complete.

It is not good for man to be alone. We need the community of people.