Monday, January 9, 2012

Dealing With Loneliness

Isn't it interesting that in a world with nearly 7 billion people we can still feel lonely? After living half way across the world, in a country where I don't speak the language, don't have any family nearby, my husband works full time and my interactions with people primarily consists of "hello" and "thank you" to a clerk at the grocery store...loneliness became a very familiar concept for me. Within the first few months of moving here I was practically grief-stricken with the feeling of loneliness. Despite having my husband here with me each day, I somehow still felt alone. Not everyday...but there were many days that I felt confined to my loneliness. I couldn't seem to shake it, no matter what I tried. It was only after I fully grasped God's promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 that I was able to overcome this consuming fear of loneliness. It says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged...for the LORD your God is with you; He will never leave you or forsake you."


We are NEVER alone. Whether we are in an empty room or a crowded room...the Lord is with us. But His promise declares that He will NEVER leave us either. I can attest that in those quiet moments when I was seemingly all alone here in our apartment...I was actually in the greatest company. I've come to find that my "alone" time is actually the perfect time of day. It's time I get to spend with my Saviour without any distractions from the outside world. Just me and Him. I didn't realize just how much I enjoyed Him and needed Him prior to my change in situation. 


Maybe you are like me...you have allowed the world to distract you from your relationship with Jesus. You have grown dependent on others, or on things to fill your lonely heart. Well, let me tell you dear friend...everything in this life will one day pass away...those people and things that you are dependent on will not always be around. But God's love and presence is eternal. If we continue to fill ourselves with temporal things it is like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. Eventually we will run empty. God's grace permanently repairs the holes in our punctured heart and fills us with His unending love ensuring that we'll never be empty again!


I know first hand what it is like to feel like you are all alone in this world. But I also know that loneliness is simply a lie from the Enemy and the truth is that Jesus has been with you since your beginning and will continue to be with you throughout your life. For some of us this is a very difficult concept to grasp because we've experienced so many losses...loss of loved ones, broken relationships and various disappointments so we conclude that a loving, eternal relationship like God's is impossible. But in Isaiah 55:8-10, God tells us that  "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." In other words...let us not compare man to God or God to man. One will never fail to disappoint, the other is incapable of failing us. We cannot write God off because man has continually failed us. Through every disappointment caused by man...God remains faithful and is there to love us through the disappointments, the loneliness and the pain. Let Jesus fill you up and relieve you of your loneliness.

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