Max Lucado - You Are Never Alone Study Guide

Mother Teresa once said, The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved. Perhaps you are acquainted with this kind of poverty in your life. You are familiar with the downward spiral. You have convinced yourself no one cares, no one can help you, no one can hear you, and no one can heed your call. You feel inside that you are on your own.

Well, if you know this feeling, I want to tell you that you arent alone. I dont mean you arent alone in knowing the feeling. I mean that you literally arent alone. That raw, dark sense of isolation and powerlessness? It isnt here to stay.

If youre not convinced, I have some stories for you to consider. Actually, the disciple John has some stories for you to consider. He interwove a tapestry of miracles in his Gospel so you can know that you are never truly on your own when Jesus is in your life. In Johns own words, he wrote about these miracles so you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).

Life-giving belief! This is what John wants you to experience. Abundant, robust, and resilient faith. John wants you to understand that life happens when you believe. You find strength beyond your strength. You accomplish tasks beyond your capacity. You discover solutions beyond your wisdom. Belief happens when you place your confidence in God.

As you do, you have life in his name. This is the purpose of the miracles that John records! He recounts these signs to stir conviction in this promise: you are never, ever, alone. Was this not one of the final promises of Christ? Before he ascended to heaven, he assured his friends, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20 ESV ).

Those words meant everything to John. At the time he wrote his Gospel, he was an aged apostle serving a church in the city of Ephesus. Hair silver. Skin wrinkled. He is the last of the original disciples of Christ. Peter, Andrew, James, and the rest are all gone. Only John remainsand he knows his days are coming to an end. So he takes up one final task.

Marks Gospel is in circulation. Matthew and Luke have compiled their accounts. But Johns Gospel will be different. He will tell stories the others didnt tell and add details to the ones they did relate. He will structure his Gospel around a cross-section of signs.

First, John takes us to Cana to sample some wine. Then he takes us to Capernaum to watch a father embrace a son he feared would die. We feel the fury of an angry storm in Galilee and hear the murmur of a hungry crowd on a hillside. We watch a paralytic stand up and a blind man look up. Before John is done, he leads us through two cemeteries, near one cross, and invites us to eavesdrop on a breakfast chat that forever changed the life of an apostle.

Johns intention in relating these miracles is not to serve as entries in a history book but as samples from Gods playbook. He recorded them not to impress you but to urge you to believe in the tender presence and mighty power of Christ. This montage of miracles proclaims: Gods got this! Think its all up to you? Hogwash. God will carry you. Youre stronger than you think because God is nearer than you know.

Had Jesus just wanted to make a case for his divinity, he could have materialized a f lock of birds out of thin air, caused trees to uproot, turned creeks into waterfalls, or transformed rocks into bumblebees. Such deeds would have demonstrated his power. But he wanted you to see more. He wanted to show you a miracle-working God who loves you, cares for you, and comes to your aid. And dont you need to know this message today?

When life seems depleted... does God care?

When Im facing an onslaught of challenges... will God help?

When life grows dark and stormy... will God be there?

The answer in the life-giving miracles in the Gospel of John is a resounding yes.

Do you know these miracles? Do you believe in a Jesus who not only has power but also a passionate love for the weak and wounded of the world? Do you think he cares enough about you to find you in the lonely waiting rooms, rehab centers, and convalescent homes of life? Do you desire to know the God who will meet you in the midst of lifes messes?

If so, take a good look at the words of John and the miracles of Christ and see if they dont achieve their desired goal: That you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).