「其實我不是獨自一人，因為有父與我同在。」－約翰福音16:32
老鷹從不成群結隊，我們頂多能一次見到兩隻。
專一為神而活的生命，儘管需要離別友伴，卻能換得與神之間神聖的交通。
神在尋找這樣的人。沒有人能夠對神有極盡超越的認識，除非他單獨與神同行。
- 亞伯拉罕一人孤零零在摩利亞山，羅得卻住在所多瑪城中。
- 摩西雖精通埃及一切的智慧，他卻仍需來到曠野和神相守四十年。
- 保羅雖然熟稔希臘的學問，也曾在迦瑪列的門下受教，他卻也仍需到亞拉伯的沙漠與神獨處。
求神使我們遠離塵囂吧！不是那種修道院式的自閉，而是那種在孤獨的過程中，讓信心的自主性得以發展，叫我們不再總需仰賴旁人的禱告、信心與照顧。
儘管在基督徒長進的過程中，肢體的扶持和激勵勢不可缺；但當生命到了一定的程度，過多的旁援卻成了妨礙個人信心和福份的攔阻。
神知道在我們生命的歷程中，何時需要環境的轉換，何時該讓我們離群獨處；當時候到了，我們就該全然交託，讓祂引領我們走過一程。
當事情告一段落，我們仍會同樣的寶愛身邊的弟兄姊妹，卻不再那樣處處依賴他們了。
我們會發現，主已在我們心裡動了奇妙的善工，使我們學會如何振動靈魂深處的雙翼。
"Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (John 16:32).It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher levels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life.
No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship.
God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air.
We must dare to be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven."
He trod the wine-press alone. Are we prepared for a "splendid isolation" rather than fail Him?
