The Promises of God

Promises From God Relative To Loneliness

Of the many darknesses that most of us face in life, one of them must be loneliness, and oftentimes after a loved one has gone, the regrets and the emptiness of life without having them to look after.  Yet, it is all too easy for folk to misunderstand.  God saw that Adam had no helpmate and loneliness was his lot in life.  I have no doubt that when Adam named the animals and saw each with its counterpart there could have been a sense of “something missing” in his life.  Loneliness is an expression of human need, for God has made us in such a way that we all need to love and be loved, we all need company.

Loneliness is totally different from being alone.  One can be alone but not know loneliness, the difference being, loneliness is an inward emptiness.  The Lord knew what it was to be alone:
	a)	“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.”  (Matt. 14:23)
	b)	“And it came to pass, as He was alone praying.”  (Lk. 9:18)
	c)	Without question, the greatest loneliness He ever knew was when suffering for our sins on the cross.  When He cried that pensive cry: “My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken me” (Mk. 15:34), it was from the depths of loneliness.

Concerning, our Lord, these words were uttered prophetically:  “I am as a sparrow alone upon the house top” (Psa. 102:7).  He experienced the void of no one understanding, no one to turn to, and then be forsaken.  He knew the ultimate loneliness when hanging on the cross of Calvary, when the disciples had all fled, and then God Himself forsook Him. 

We know He suffered for our sins, but we ask: “was there more?”  The answer comes at times like thunder reverberating through the mountains, and at other times like the soothing sound of a gentle flowing stream.  The answer is: “He knew desolation deeper than you or I ever will, to be our High Priest”.  No matter how dark the night is, the Lord has walked the path before us. 

How often we take things and people for granted, and fail to miss them until it is too late.  We grow up within families, and most times have our own, enjoying social interactions, that in our childishness we think will never end.  Each of us has our own involuntary isolation when there is taken, and sometimes ripped from us, one whom we love.  Within our breasts there is a whirlpool of emotions, anger, questioning, and total emptiness.  The house suddenly seems deserted, eating our meals alone, and looking at a vacant seat fills the heart with grief.  At times we deliberately, almost a torturing of ourselves, look at their clothes, look at the pictures of happier days, now gone forever. 

Sometimes we ask: “Why then should we endure such loneliness?”  The answer is so that by His grace, we can be a channel of blessing to others who are going through the same dark emptiness, and be able to comfort them with the consolation the Lord gave us. 

In those hours, and with God's help, may we not dwell on our loneliness but on the deeper loneliness of Christ, and ask Him to be merciful to us, and help us to be a channel of comfort to others.

When solitude's burden would weigh down the soul
When feelings of loneliness like sea billows roll,
My Saviour continually stays by my side
To strengthen, to comfort, to help, and to guide.