You and I will know lonely moments. For some, loneliness seems to last for an eternity. Loneliness can kill. But if you know how to look beyond that emotion and feeling that leaves you drained, you will find the outstretched arms of Jesus inviting you to another perspective. That’s when you will discover, as I have many times, that loneliness can actually be a blessing in disguise.

Last lesson I shared personal lonely times in Norma’s and my life. You know your own times when you have felt all alone. Let’s look a little farther.

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW LONELINESS?

God is not the author of loneliness—so why does He allow it? I’m convinced that loneliness can result in great spiritual growth in our lives—if we know how to manage it. Those feelings of loneliness often help us realize that people, places and events all change and will ultimately disappear. The greatest relationship is only temporary. Unless, of course, that relationship is with God. He wants to be our dearest, most precious companion—but He seldom is. Life is often so full of activity that we know a friendship with the Lord but seldom an intimate spiritual relationship.

Yet, isn’t that what He wants and tried to tell us at the beginning when He would take those wonderful walks with Adam and Eve in a lovely garden in the cool of the evening? The Lord cries out for us to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength but, if we’re honest, we seldom do. That is why God uses our greatest loneliness to help us realize we have only one enduring relationship that can know no end—our walk with God.

PUTTING LONELINESS IN PERSPECTIVE

Study in detail the life of Jesus. He understands our battles with loneliness. He was the most misunderstood person that ever lived. How difficult it was for people to comprehend this One who walked the earth healing sick bodies, casting out demons, calming the seas, raising the dead, forgiving sins and speaking of an unseen but eternal kingdom called “heaven.” His disciples slept while Jesus cried in His garden of agony. They ran away when He was arrested. They deserted Him as He died alone on the cross, and hid in terror after His burial.

He knew what it was to be the loneliest person on earth. No one will ever know the aloneness Jesus experienced when He became the sin of the world and knew, momentarily, even His loving Father forsaking Him. (Matthew 27:46). ALONE! And every drop of blood and sweat that came from His beaten body and broken heart was saying to you and to me, “I love you, I love you, I love you!”

That’s why His continual presence becomes a cure for my feelings of loneliness. One of my most consoling scriptures is Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He felt everything you and I have felt in the past, feel in the present and will experience in the future. That is why God is the God who is always here. You cannot get away from His loving gaze and constant care. But is there a scriptural plan for winning the battle of loneliness. There is! We will share it in Part III.

TO BE CONTINUED

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras