Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)
Are you feeling alone, left out, abandoned? Life can be tough and all of us can relate to the feeling of loneliness. These past couple years have brought me more lonely points than I could have imagined. Ironically enough, some of my loneliest times have been when I am surrounded by people. Lonely doesn't always mean alone.
As cliche as it sounds, however, we are never truly alone. We have an omnipresent God... that means He is everywhere! He knows when you are hurting. He sees the tears you cry. He knows the desires of your heart.
"Ok, so if God knows all these things, then why do I still feel lonely? Why am I not receiving those desires of my heart?" Friend, I wish I had the answers to those questions. I have asked them many times myself. But even though I don't know the specific answers to your "why's", I do know this:
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!He wants to love you. He wants to take care of you. He wants to give you hope. Satan, and even other people, will try to manipulate and exploit your emotions. Satan wants you so caught up in yourself and so paralyzed by despair, that you cannot and will not live out the plans that God has for you. Don't allow him that victory over you! Turn your loneliness into something great! Instead of dwelling on what you do not have, look for the things you DO have. Instead of further isolating yourself, reach out to others who are lonely too...visit someone in a convalescent home, take dinner to a "single" mom whose husband is deployed, volunteer for a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
One of my favorite books to read to my daughter is "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. I want to share an excerpt that really spoke some great stuff about being alone...
"I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too
Games you can't win
because you play against you.
All alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone,
there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you
right out of your pants.
There are some down the road
between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much
you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the hakken-kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are."
