Canine separation anxiety is a complex psychological disorder affecting many dogs and their owners. When left alone, the otherwise wonderful pets affected by the disorder experience overwhelming distress, displaying a wide range of associated harmful behaviors. These range from incessant barking and destructive chewing to house soiling, total home wrecking and attempts to escape. Dogs are social creatures that thrive on the human companionship, which can make the absence of their owners highly disturbing.
My wife and I live in a multigenerational household comprised of grandparents, parents, children, and grandkids. It’s not uncommon for our daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons to be away for a weekend or longer vacation. When this occurs the family dog Mars, a large Labrador, is visibly moved. Mainly, he lies motionless on the floor or bed, and lets out big lonely sighs. My wife and I say that he “misses his humans.” While Mars doesn’t display destructive behaviors, family separation clearly makes him lonely for those he loves.
Loneliness is a key element of separation anxiety. It is not simply the absence of company, but rather a deep sense of isolation that can envelop practically anyone. It’s possible to feel lonely even while surrounded by a host of others. As a career Army officer, I endured multiple long deployments to Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. In addition to the deployments, there were many other extended periods of family separation when I was required to attend training, exercises, and formal schools. In each instance, I suffered bouts of loneliness caused by being separated from those whom I love most, my wife and children. I sometimes became increasingly anxious as anticipated periods of separation approached.
The Apostle Paul looked forward to death, but not because he was depressed. He simply wished to again be in the physical presence of his first love, Jesus. In the first chapter of his letter to the Philippians (v. 21-24*) he wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
In Mark chapter 14 the disciples eat the Passover meal with Jesus and then go to the garden of Gethsemane. In Gethsemane, Jesus went off by Himself to pray. As fully man and fully God, He knew exactly what was in store for Him—torture, crucifixion, and death. Just a few days prior to this Jesus had told his disciples plainly, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:18-19)
Despite this foreknowledge, Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane shows He was not distressed over any of the coming physical violence. He was in agony knowing that when the sins of the world were laid on Him, God the Father would turn away. Jesus dreaded the coming separation from God! We are reminded of this later when we hear His impassioned cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
After the crucifixion, Jesus’ disciples suffered with separation anxiety. John 20:10 describes them hiding in fear of the Jewish leaders. No doubt they feared the Romans too! After all, they’d been hanging out with this “criminal” who was perceived by some as a threat to Roman authority. Their teacher and master had, by all practical appearances, made a bunch of empty promises and then left them alone. But it was not so. Behind the locked doors where they hid, the resurrected Jesus appears to His disciples in the flesh (John 20:19-20).
During his ministry, Jesus devoted a lot of time and effort to preparing His disciples for the day when He would be physically absent from them. He reassures them in John 14:15-18, saying “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” Jesus final reassuring words to his disciples in Matthew 28:20b are, “and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Isaiah 26:9 – “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
Psalm 42:1-2 – “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Psalm 143:6 – “I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.”
Psalm 73:24 – “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”
Thank God for leaving the Spirit of Truth with all believers. We need only to listen for His still, small voice to find Him. Thank God that He loves all of us so much that our foolish fears and anxieties don’t upset Him. Thank God He’s so patient with me, and that He is patient with all of us, even when we are impatient with Him. He loves us unconditionally, so much that he stretched out His arms on the cross to suffer and die for all of us. He will not send us anywhere He is not going; and when it comes to death, He’s been there and done that already. No matter how anxious, frightened, and lonely we may become, the Holy Spirit will keep us in His grip until the day Jesus bring us safely home. We are never alone.
*All Bible quotations are NIV
Divine Simplicity 
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