"Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted."
Psalm 25:16
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
Today's blog is about what our spiritual state of mind is and how to benefit from it. We have all experienced a state of loneliness, regardless of whether we have many friends or very few. Being alone and being lonely are two very different things. You can be alone in a room and be fully content but you can also be in a crowded room and feel completely alone.
"The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”
As for myself, I can completely identify with the quote just above. I've had life moments where I've just had to roll with the punches and the flow of life. There was nothing I could do, but trust God and His Word that "He works all things for good, for those that love Him." Being humans, we will all experience times of loneliness. But Jesus helps us understand that we always have the presence of the Father with us. God is omnipresent and eternal. Only He can be with us all the time, for all time.
"The world constantly changes; it is never constant except in its disappointments. How quickly we may move our lodgings and make our pillow in the dust! The world is but a great inn where we are to stay a little night or two, and then be gone. What madness it is so to set our heart upon our inn - as to forget our eternal home! (Thomas Watson)
"The One who loves us perfectly is in full control, working everything out according to His good purpose. Knowing this should fill us with hope, even in the midst of crisis situations. The Lord even promises to turn disaster to good for those who “are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28)." (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
“We can say with Romans 8:28 that God uses all things for the good of those who love him, even our loneliness, because our loneliness leads us to our deepest spiritual need, who is Christ. And we can also say with 1 John 3:20 that, even when we feel condemned, God is greater than our hearts and that loneliness cannot separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38–39). We have a solution to our spiritual problem, and if we will submit to the Lord and accept his solution for our deepest spiritual problem, the atoning work of Christ on the cross, God can attack loneliness at its root and overcome the pain of separation in our lives that leads to separation from him, which leads to separation from other people.” (odb.org)
“Loneliness is a wilderness, but through receiving it as a gift, accepting it from the hand of God, and offering it back to him with thanksgiving, it may become a pathway to holiness, to glory and to God himself.” (Elisabeth Elliot)
“The wilderness is that season of our lives where God, through our loneliness, teaches us that his will is to do something in us, not merely do something for us. That is, by walking by faith and not by sight, he works in us a stronger faith, leading to a deeper worship that results in a greater joy.”
“Loneliness is seeking to run from the presence of people and the pressures of life, and to withdraw from reality, but aloneness is experiencing the reality of God’s presence, running into the hiding place, not so you can just escape, but so you can enjoy God’s presence. The hiding place can be viewed as that place or season in our lives when we run from people and circumstances, feel that the world is against us, and embrace loneliness only to encounter God, learn that he is for us, and therefore experience true aloneness.” (P. Matthies)
As you finish reading this blog, I hope you see loneliness with a new perspective. To see it more as an opportunity to draw closer to God and bring Him to others.
"There is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world, that we do not have a friend, that no one cares for us, that no one is concerned about anything that might happen to us, that no one would care if we were to die or shed a tear over our grave. Whatever the cause of loneliness, for the Christian the cure is always the same—the comforting fellowship of Christ. He is the friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24), who lays down His life for His friends (John 15:13-15), and who has promised never to leave us or forsake us but to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We can take comfort in the words of the old hymn that says it best: “Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He is with me to the end. Hallelujah, what a Savior!” (gotquestions.org)
