The Rock

Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

– Matthew 26:38

It was a place of suffering and despair called The Rock.

It's Alcatraz, the infamous maximum-security prison situated on an island in San Francisco Bay. Originally a pre-Civil War-era military outpost and later a military prison, Alcatraz became the last stop for society's worst-of-the-worst when it re-opened in 1934 as an escape-proof penitentiary.

The Rock's ultra-strict code of discipline helped the facility earn its Hellcatraz nickname. In the prison’s notorious "D" block, inmates lived in 4' x 8' cells and were allowed out just once per week for a 10-minute shower. "Harsher punishments," reports the Legends of America website, included "solitary confinement, in total darkness, for days without any release, or confinement in the dreaded steel boxes."

Alcatraz closed its doors in 1963. But today — over 60 years later — there are millions of people suffering through a different type of solitary confinement: loneliness. Even in our crowded nation of over 340 million residents, many of our neighbors are on their own without close friends or family. They know all too well that it's possible to be lonely without ever being alone. 

This was never our Creator's plan. But to some extent we all have trouble forming relationships, whether it's with each other or with him. The first book of the Bible (Genesis) reveals that God placed the first man and woman in a perfect, care-free existence called Eden. There were no job deadlines, traffic jams, illnesses, or broken marriages. It was a place where God literally walked with his creation. But when the couple intentionally disobeyed his instructions and sinned, things were never the same. Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, and they realized the damage they had done. Then they tried to hide from their Creator.

Some things haven't changed. In addition to fleeing from our own transgressions, we also avoid relationships because of what others have done to us. We don’t want to be disappointed or hurt again. It's too easy to be let down. And it's much easier to run away.

The good news is that God has a two-part solution. First, he re-established our relationship with him through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. Since Christ personally paid the penalty for our many sins, Believers are considered God's sons and daughters, and an unimaginable inheritance awaits us. And second, he built the Church, which is composed of all the Christ-followers around the world. It's a body of imperfect people like you and me who are all looking for the same thing: a safe place to rest from the world, heal our spiritual wounds, and make life-long relationships.

Are you imprisoned in spiritual solitary confinement? You're never alone through a relationship of faith in Jesus — the Rock of Salvation.