Still on Guard · Day 2 of 7

You Weren't as Alone as You Thought

Survival kept telling me, "No one is coming. You're on your own."

God kept answering. Not at first with verses, but with lives.

My mother was one of the first. Her story started in pain, but by the time I was around 21, her life had completely turned around. She became a woman of God, serious about her faith and serious about change. Looking back, I can see God was working on her heart and mine at the same time.

Then there were the people God kept putting around me. Once I was living on my own, I was never truly alone. Not perfect people, but friends. Some for a season. Some still in my life today. I could have ended up dead or in prison, and I didn't. The Lord kept making a way through jobs, coworkers, neighbors, and friends.

Many of them had no idea what I had survived. On the outside, I looked like just another guy building a life, even while survival was driving me on the inside.

The fact that I was surrounded by people, and not isolated on the street, was mercy. It was God quietly saying, You are not actually alone. I'm providing community. Even when you don't recognize it, it's Me.

I promise you, even when I didn't feel seen, I was being carried.

Scripture

"For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)

That promise isn't just church language. It's a direct answer to the belief that no one is coming.

Sit With This

When something goes wrong, do you react like someone who is alone and on their own? Sometimes our reactions reveal what we really believe more than our words do.

One Small Step

Look back over your life and name three people or moments God used to carry you, even if you didn't see it then. Pray this: Show me where You've already been with me.

---

Go deeper: Listen to Built, Not Broken, Episode 2, "The First Cracks in Survival Mode".

Next: what my independence was really made of.