No More Alone

No More Alone

Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one; because it is well worth the effort.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up their companion: but woe to one that falls alone; for there is no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two sleep together, then they arouse each other: but how can one become aroused all alone?
12 And if one is overwhelmed, two can stand together; a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (GMR)

Marriage is the cure to the most desperate need that we can have in life – loneliness.

Unfortunately many married people take this for granted and have forgotten what it was like to be alone.

I am appalled at the number of times I see a husband and wife each living their own life. They each follow their own careers, they go on vacation separately, and sometimes they even sleep in different beds.

One wonders why people like this even got married in the first place.

Ask any single person who is crying out for a life partner what their greatest need is, and I can guarantee that they will tell you it is loneliness.

The Lord made us to be together, and to work together, and enjoy life together. Adam was not a happy man before the Lord made Eve and brought her to him. And even God himself created man for someone to have fellowship with.

In the passage above Solomon gives us some of the benefits of having someone else by your side. He starts out by saying that there are great benefits in making the effort to be together.

So forget about all the disadvantages of living so closely together with someone, and forget about all the things that irritate you about your spouse. Start looking at some of the wonderful advantages that you have.

The first advantage is that there is someone there to help you up when you fall. Often this may not be a literal falling down physically. All of us have times when we are emotionally down, and need someone to lift us up. This is when having someone nearby who cares and will encourage you is most valuable.

You will find that most of the time, both of you are not down together, but you take turns. In this way, there is always one who is feeling good and strong, who can lift up the other.

Solomon speaks of two people who sleep together affecting each other. Most Bible versions translate this verse as the two warming each other up. However, the original Hebrew word for warm can also refer to sexual arousal or stimulation. So both can apply where the two people in this passage are a husband and a wife.

I think this is a good picture. You do not need to lie there shivering alone, because there is someone there to cuddle up to and make you warm. And when you are that close you will also affect each other sexually, and a wonderful time of love making should often be the result of sleeping together.

The final benefit that Solomon speaks about is having someone to stand with you when you are under attack. Spiritually this is very important, because we all face attack from the enemy in our lives in serving the Lord.

How wonderful it is when you are under attack and feel that you cannot resist any more, to have someone else to stand with you. Someone who will help you in the fight when you are feeling weak and the enemy is stronger than you are. This can apply when you are spiritually under attack, or even when you are feeling sick in your body.

Jesus said that where two or three are gathered together in His Name, He would be there also. This adds the third part of what Solomon said. A cord having three strands is very strong, and does not break easily. By standing together as one in the Lord, we form a bond that the enemy can never break.

Do you still think about what it was like before you were married? Do you think how nice it would be to be able to do as you please and go where you please?

If any of these thoughts have entered your mind, then think again.

You need never be lonely again. Besides, who would want to be?