Loneliness

Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Gosh! I love this verse! I am also pretty sure everyone who knows anything about God, knows this verse. However, there is just one thing that doesn’t make sense to me. How can God be with me, if I don’t feel Him, or see Him next to me?

I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this question. If you struggle with this question, then I’m guessing you have a problem with loneliness, just like me. In fact, I think we all have a difficult time with this, because I believe that we were created to be with each other. Genesis 2:18 says, “Then the LORD God said, ‘it is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’ ”

Wait a minute… Man wasn’t alone. Man had complete fellowship with God. Does this mean that we need another person like us to satisfy our loneliness? This is such an interesting verse, and preachers will say that it shows the importance of getting married. Others won’t go as far and say that this verse talks about how we need each other, which I think is true. If you go to the early church in Acts, it says that they sold what they had and shared among those who needed it.

I believe that God made a helper suitable for Adam so that we could have fellowship with one another. Does that mean that we need both God and man? Of course not, but what if God uses others to satisfy us? What if God works through people to give us fellowship? This puts man at a place where he is still lower than God, because man is simply an instrument of God.

God is all we need, and He is all we should long for. There is a verse in the Psalms that says, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). John Piper has written an amazing book called, “Desiring God.” If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to. In it, he talks about finding joy in the Lord, and what that practically looks like.

But, isn’t that what we’re really looking for? Delight, that is. Isn’t that why we get a boy friend of a girl friend or have that even secret relationship that no one can ever know about? Don’t we do it to find Joy? You may say, “But Rob! You said that God uses people to give us fellowship!” You’re right, but examine in your heart; are you looking to man first or God?

I’m not saying being in a relationship is a bad thing, but I am saying that we are to look to Christ to fulfill us first, and then He will supply all our needs. Do we really even realize that the Bible says that if we delight ourselves in Christ, that we can receive all the desires of our hearts? I think we take that and say, “No way! That can’t be right.” But think about it this way. If we find complete Joy in the Lord, then our desire will become Him and everything we want will be according to God’s plan. Thus, if these two desires line up, then the things we desire, which is ultimately what God desires, will come to pass.

People say that Heaven is just the uniting of the wills, where our will perfectly matches up with the will of God for our lives. God desires to be worship, and in heaven, I’d say that’s a pretty good description of what we will be doing 24/7.

So right now, you may feel lonely. You may feel like you are missing something. Can I encourage you, as I encourage myself as well, that God is the only thing that can give you everlasting joy. Chase after Him, read the Bible, pray to Him, and He will chase after you. You may not feel the hug of a loved one, or the kiss of a lover, but stay strong in your faith. God has saved you by the blood of His son, and if He has set that down payment for your heart, there is no way that He’d forget you and lose what He paid for.

Just remember, that He is closer than the air we breathe. – Forsake All