Many people who I talk with feel very much alone. Loneliness can be very tough. One can be single or married. One can be in her seventies or seventeen. To feel lonely over a period of time can cause one to be vulnerable to fatigue, sin, depression and self-pity.
Do any of these situations sound familiar?
- The young couple who have gotten themselves into tremendous debt due to credit card abuse. They feel very alone.
- The teenager who sits at home on Saturday evening while some of her best friends are getting drunk at a party.
- The businessman who feels as if he is the lone voice of ethics in his company.
- The university student who has so many questions and doesn’t know who to turn to.
- The Christian man who continues to carry around "secrets" and feels a deep loneliness because he can’t share what is on his heart.
- The widow who stopped receiving invitations to eat at the local cafeteria with long time married friends shortly after her husband died.
There are times when I have struggled with a sense of being alone.
- When I had to preach a difficult message (out of conviction).
- When I have felt inadequate and overwhelmed by my work.
- When a man told me that he was going to end his life–and eventually did.
- When I have felt great frustration with the church or even with my own life.
There are times when I have not handled such feelings well. However, through the years I have learned to bring feelings of inadequacy and insecurity to God. I have learned that God can use such feelings to create an even greater sense of dependency on him. The truth is, a Christian is never alone. The Spirit, God’s forever presence, is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6).