A voice in the wilderness: Waiting, alone

News | December 2, 2018
Asa, right, with his brother, Gabe.

I remember the first time I felt completely alone. I was about six years old, and had been on a bike ride with my family, which consists of my dad, my mom, Gabe (my brother), and me. We had biked to a park and were planning on turning around to come home. But Gabe got sick, so my mom left to go to the car (which was close by) and drive him home. My dad and I biked home and I waited for Gabe and mom to arrive. As the minutes went by, I became increasingly worried about the two of them. Eventually, my dad decided that it would be best if he rode his bike to the car just to see if he could discover Gabe and mom. This would mean me being home alone. Dad promised me that he would be gone no longer than 10 minutes. He put me in our fenced-in back yard, and told me I would be safe there. I knew I could trust my dad, but I still didn’t want to be left alone.

As soon as he left, I plopped down in the yard and wept. I was extremely worried, however deep down I trusted that everything would be okay. After the longest eight minutes of my life, my dad returned home and informed me that he had not seen Gabe or mom. Eventually, we found each other and mom explained that her and Gabe were locked out of the car for a while. Everything turned out to be fine.

As I recall this event, I notice the similarities between this instance and Jesus’ forty days of temptation. While my eight minutes of being alone is incomparable to forty days, both Jesus and I felt very alone. We were both quite doubtful at times. We both had to trust that everything would be okay. Though I did not realize it at the time, I am now aware that even when I felt completely alone, I still had Jesus as a companion.

Asa Mahn is a seventh grade student at Edison Junior High School in Rock Island. He is in confirmation at St. Paul.  To sign up to receive St. Paul’s daily Advent devotions, visit ow.ly/TGYC5.

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