Lonely? Never Alone!

A couple of years ago on a Friday morning at church a lady said something about loneliness. She has a husband, children at home, is a care-giver for another family member, and has a job outside the home. A full house, if you will. I imagine she doesn't get much time to herself. I can't quote verbatim, but she was very dogmatic in what she said. She stated that if you are a child of Jesus, you should never feel lonely. Period. End of comment, no exceptions mentioned, just period. WOW!! That statement broke my heart. And what broke my heart about it is the fact that it is totally and completely untrue! I was unfaithful to my Lord because I didn't pull her aside and talk to her about it. I was too terrified, but none-the-less, unfaithful to what my Lord so obviously called me to do. So let me talk on it today. I want to tell you why that is such a dangerous thing to say. By God's grace, I am secure in my relationship with my Lord. I know that when those feelings of loneliness come, it is not because I am not walking with my God, my Husband and Friend. But if a babe in Christ heard that, who happens to experience loneliness first-hand, Satan could use that statement in so many ways against God and against them. Think about how he would jump on that opportunity! He could try to convince that person that Jesus doesn't care about them because if they are lonely, surly it means that Jesus doesn't REALLY love them. He could tell them that they aren't truly saved, otherwise they wouldn't be having those feelings. He could tell them that they are wasting their time trying to do the Christianity thing. He could so easily hinder their walk with Christ, and even cause them to doubt whether Jesus sees or even cares at all about their feelings of being so alone. Even I had to do a mental and spiritual double-take after she said it. And of course it didn't take but a split second for my faithful God the Holy Spirit to let me know the truth, HIS truth. But what about a new-born child of Christ?
I have feelings of loneliness. It is one of the areas of my life that God has used to bring me into a closer relationship with Himself. My son is grown and gone. I'm just now starting to reconnect with family after years of separation. I don't date, not at all. I've never once been out on a date with a Christian man. God is in control of that and He is good always! (In fact, I have a feeling that He will lead me to write about being single and about the walk of a single godly woman with her heavenly Husband.) I don't socialize at all. Like I've said, I have such a fear of people. But God so graciously is changing that and growing me and showing me that it is time for me to come out of hiding from the world and be available for Him to put people in my path. He can't very well put people in my path if I don't come out from hiding under the bed! Amen? But these years have provided many opportunities of loneliness. I know even that can be a gift from God, and will only last as long as He decides, at the level that it has been. God could have, at any second, changed me entirely, completely, and drug me out from under my bed and put a SLEW of people in my life! Right? God can do anything! And He is the Sovereign of my life. I have long since given my life to Him to do with as He pleases. He could have changed the loneliness YEARS ago. He didn't. He could have healed my puppy, Aaron, my heart and little bundle of joy and companionship when he was mauled by another dog and died two days later on March 10, 2008. He chose not to, and I praised Him even through that tremendous pain. Yes, I have many feelings of loneliness in my life. And Beloved, I praise Him for every single feeling of loneliness, because it drove me to my Savior's tender, loving arms. It still does. And it is one of the most precious feelings in my intimacy with my Husband and God when loneliness is so thick I have to brush it away to be able to see my Lord's face. Actually, the truth is, I don't brush it away at all, HE does. His gentle touch. He takes my chin and lifts my face to see the One who loves me more than I can fathom. And He holds me so close, and cradles me as I sob. And He speaks so softly to me as He tells me that He understands, and how very much He loves me. And He reminds me that He is ALWAYS right there with me. He sees me. He looks upon me, and even sees into the depths of my heart and knows every ounce of my pain of being alone. Then the loneliness subsides, there in the arms of my Jesus! Oh Jesus, You are so good to me, Your grace and love ABOUND in my life! (Even now, just thinking and writing about it, the tears of gratitude are flowing from my heart and down my face.) Don't ever try to convince me that God doesn't allow loneliness to come sometimes in the life of a child of His. I believe with all my heart that He does, in some form or another, some level or another, at some time or another in every life that belongs to Him. And I know that loneliness comes in different forms. You can have a spouse and at times feel as if you would rather experience the feeling of being alone rather than deal with the feeling of loneliness you have, even though that person is in the same bed, or sitting beside you on the couch, or beside you at church. You can be young, still living at home with a house full of family members and feel lonely and invisible. You can be an only child and feel deep pains of loneliness and lack of companionship. You can be elderly and experience such tremendous isolation and loneliness, and a feeling that nobody cares. Or you can attend every event the church offers and be around a slew of people and the loneliness doesn't subside. You can work at a job where you are surrounded by people all day long and feel lonely. Loneliness comes in many forms but there is only One True God, who sees you and feels your pain. He cares! He loves you so much! Beloved, He might not want to take away that pain. It's one of the greatest catalysts God uses to draw us to Himself. He uses it to draw unbelievers to the foot of the cross. He uses every form of pain, loneliness just being one of them. He uses pain to make a child of His more and more like their Savior. And think about it. What if I never knew loneliness in my walk with Christ, and I was the one who made that statement she made, or God forbid, had verbally agreed with her! I praise God for EVERY kind of pain He puts in my life, and you just have to trust me for now that I have many different kinds. But praise God, He doesn't waste a single one of them. He has a purpose and a plan to use that pain for His glory, for the good of others and my good. If I want to be used by God, how can I be of any use at all if I never go through the trials of life? I would be a spiritual prig, as Spurgeon would say. NEVER, Lord. Please bring whatever pain you have to in my life for me to be used by You for Your children, Your kingdom, gospel, Your honor, and Your glory. Thank You oh God, for whatever that looks like in my life! Jesus, oh Jesus, please bring the rain!