When we turn inward to solve our problems, we lose sight of what we have available to us in the body of Christ.
Have you ever experienced loneliness? I am not talking about the kind of loneliness that is fleeting and disappears as soon as someone or something familiar shows up. I am talking about a loneliness that can make you feel completely isolated, even in a room full of people who love you.
I have.
My deep loneliness was thankfully just for a season and was the result of a failed marriage. I had never felt raw intense loneliness before, and honestly, I hope I never feel it again. One of the reasons I was so deeply lonely during that time in my life was because I was focusing on who had left me instead of who was with me and who, in fact, had been with me all along.
During my season of loneliness, I had a friend say that isolation is a tool of the devil. When you choose not to let others in, then you have no one to pray for you or check on you. You just have yourself. Ouch! That comment stung because I was choosing isolation and didn’t even realize it. We most definitely are not truly alone unless we choose to be. When we turn inward to solve our problems, we lose sight of what we have available to us in the body of Christ.
We have full access to our God! How amazing is that? We can talk to Him, rely on Him, cry out to Him even when we don’t have words to express ourselves. “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8
We have the ability to be confident. The Lord gives us confidence when we put our hope in Him. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23
We also have access to a body of believers. Community is so very important! This is the strength of the Church, to encourage and be encouraged by our fellow Christians. Without a community to rely on and invest in, we can quickly lose sight of where we are headed. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together…but encouraging one another…” Hebrews 10:24-25
I don’t know what you are going through now or what you’ve endured before. I don’t know if you have a lot of friends or if you only have one. I don’t know if your family is large or if you have no family. But I do know that none of us is alone. We have the Lord, and the Lord has us all. So we can be confident in Him despite our circumstances.
