HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 202
page A200
Loneliness See also Absence; Depression; Friendship; Grief
In the lonely hours of the night, do you sometimes wrestle with God and your emotions,
feeling desperately alone, rejected? Perhaps a best friend deserted you. Or the one you
hoped to marry wants someone else. Or the one you did marry wants out. Maybe your
child has turned against you, or your parents don’t seem to care. Ironically, you can
feel equally lonely on a crowded city street, in a busy airport, or in a stadium filled with
people. Have you ever sensed the loneliness of being in a crowd? There are so many
people, but no one you know or truly care about is there. Everybody is there but no one
is with you—truly with you—except for God, who is always with you. If you develop a
relationship with him, you can disperse your loneliness. He is always there for you. You
never need to feel lonely when the creator of the universe is by your side.
I’m lonely. What can I do?
• PSA L M 2 3 :4 | Even when I walk through the darkest valley . . . you are close beside me.
• PSA L M 1 3 9 :1 7 | How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
• I SA I A H 5 4 :1 0 | “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my
faithful love for you will remain.” (See note on page 651.)
Recognize that you are not unlovable or deficient just because you are lonely. You have
value because God made you, loves you, and promises never to leave you.
L
• E X O DU S 5 :2 1 -2 2 | The foremen said to them, “May the Lord judge and punish you for
making us stink before Pharaoh. . . .” Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested,
“. . . Why did you send me?”
• 1 K I NG S 1 9 :4 | He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die.
HelpFinder
Don’t give up on God when you are lonely. It will cause you to feel sorry for yourself,
become discouraged, and fall prey to temptation.
• 1 K I NG S 1 9 :1 0 | “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
• MAT T H E W 1 1 :2 -3 | John the Baptist, who was in prison . . . sent his disciples to ask Jesus,
“Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
• 1 P E T E R 4 :1 9 | So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what
is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
Sometimes we feel alone in our stand for Christ. We can take comfort in knowing that
there are others who are equally committed and that God rewards our bold commitment.
• R O MA NS 1 2 :4 -5 | Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Be around other people. Get involved in a local church. Volunteer in local community events.
• I SA I A H 4 1 :1 0 | “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
• J O H N 1 4 :1 | “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.
Loneliness can cause us to be afraid. But God calms our fears.”
Why does God allow me to get lonely?
• G E NE S I S 2 :1 8 | Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make a helper who is just right for him.”
God did not intend for you to be lonely. On the contrary, it was God who recognized
Adam’s need for companionship. He gave Adam the task of naming the animals so that
Adam could recognize his own need for a human companion. It was then that God created
woman.
• A C T S 1 5 :3 9 | Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John
Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.
• 1 T H E S S A L O NI A NS 2 :17 | Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for
a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of
our intense longing to see you again.
