One of the most effective lies the Enemy ever convinced me to believe is that I am alone. It comes in various forms—you’re on your own, you can’t count on anyone, nobody really cares about you—but the bottom line is always the same: You are alone.

Maybe you’ve heard it, too. Our circumstances are most likely different but the Enemy is startlingly uninventive. He’s feeding us all the same lie, trying to convince us that neither people nor God Himself can be trusted and that at the end of the day, it’s all up to us.

But this belief is in direct opposition to the words of Jesus, who is Truth. He tells us in today’s Gospel that we are never alone. That He has given us an Advocate to be with us always.

Always. As in, He never leaves us alone. Not in a difficult marriage or in your single years, not in your work or your still unmet desires. God is in it with you. You are never alone.

In my first few years as a single youth minister in a new city, I became particularly attached to a family in our parish. This couple and their children taught me about love and marriage and grace-filled parenting and having hard conversations and celebrating everyday life. They gave me a home and a family when I so longed for one of my own.

And when they moved away, I felt their absence painfully. But in the loneliness, the Lord began to teach me about His unfailing presence with this simple verse: I will not leave you orphans.

We are not orphans because we have a Father. He communicates with us in His Word, He loves us through our friends, He makes Himself totally present to us in the Eucharist, and He sends us the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Guide.

You and I are never truly alone. We have never been alone.

[bctt tweet="God is in it with you. You are never alone. // @thebethdavis"]

Are you feeling lonely? Stop by the Adoration chapel, ask a friend for coffee or simply pray Come Holy Spirit throughout the day.

Beth Davis is a lover of Jesus, an aunt to five beautiful humans, and a full time youth minister in Flagstaff, Arizona. She is passionate about winning the hearts of young people for Jesus through discipleship. You can find out more about her here.