Don't be Fooled, You are not Alone

Whether we realize it or not every Christian goes through a lonely period. This past year I have been more lonely than I was willing to admit, and the sad part was that I didn't realize that it was God's way of setting me apart. When God places a calling on our lives He separates us in order to teach us how to become more dependent on Him than people and things. This is important because once we begin to walk in our calling we can't rely on people, but we have to rely on God. He is the one who provides us with instructions, and who keeps us!

One HUGE piece of advice for whenever you are feeling alone is to use that time to draw closer to God. Recently, I have begun to reestablish my relationship with God through the help of Heather Lindsey's awesome blog and ministry. I have joined the journal challenge, and I think that everyone who decides to join (and commits to the challenge) will be blessed. I'm constantly learning that God knows us more intimately than we give Him credit, and He desires to have a close relationship with us. Psalm 139 tells us exactly how well God knows us. He knows our going down and getting up, our thoughts way before we think them, and the same goes for what we say. He knew us before we were formed in our mother's wombs, so why do we look for others instead of Him when we are lonely? God knows exactly when and how it will appear-the feeling of loneliness, that is. He's ready to comfort us, but we have to look to Him.

WARNING: People will let you down! Don't get caught up looking for people to comfort and guide you because no one can do that like God can. Whenever I found myself calling friends instead of talking to God those would be the times when they were the most busy, and in most cases didn't even answer the phone. If I ran to Skype instead none of my friends were online. If I just happened to run to Facebook there wasn't anything interesting in my news feed and the friends I usually talked to weren't logged on. Do you know why it happened that way? Because God wanted me to spend some time with Him.

Now that I have finally caught on, I run to His throne! Whenever I'm feeling down or alone I begin to cry out to God with determination. What makes this time different is that I long to hear an answer from Him and I am able to find the most relief. I begin to read His word, and to journal, all a part of my communication with Him. And this is the BEST I have felt in a long time. So whenever you are feeling lonely look to God instead of people. Begin to read your Bible and find out what He is trying to tell you. If you don't have a scripture on your heart when you start, go to Psalm 139 first and look at what He says about knowing you. And if that doesn't help, look at verses 17 & 18, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" (NLT). So even when we begin to feel like we are alone, it is then that we need to realize that we are not. We can't even begin to imagine the thoughts that God has for us...but more importantly, we need to see that He is always there with us.

When we realize just how much God loves us, there is a slim chance of becoming complacent in loneliness. Within Psalm 139 David says that there is nowhere that we can go to escape God's presence. Let me repeat that, NOWHERE we can go to escape His presence. Sin can separate us from God if we allow it, but that doesn't mean that He no longer cares for you. God loves us in spite of our wrong, and He wants us to come back to Him when we are in our sinful state. I say that because everyone falls sometime, we are indeed human, but don't use that as an excuse to sin. In Romans Paul addresses taking advantage of God's grace. Romans 6:1-2a  says, "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not.." We have to realize that when we do fall that there is an opportunity to get back up and get it right with God.

Lastly, I've started reading an empowering book, The God who Sees You: Look to Him When You Feel Discouraged, Forgotten, or Invisible written by Tammy Maltby. It has helped open my eyes to how loneliness affects our walks, but more importantly how to conquer it. The enemy would love to get us in a place where we feel that we are on our own and that we have no one there to help us. BUT let him know that he is a liar and the father of all lies and recognize that the opposite is the truth. We serve a God who will NEVER leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). The issue is that we allow certain situations, whether it be sin, or life situations, to drive us away from the cross. My cry is for the Lord to keep me near His cross daily so that I don't forget all that He has done for me, and that as I draw closer to Him that He will honor His word and draw closer to me (James 4:8). I challenge you to run to the throne when you're lonely, and I promise that your life will be forever changed.

Be encouraged,
God's Servant.

P.S. Listen to the song if you get a chance. It is called "The Question" by Vaughn Thompson, Jr. and I pray that it blesses you just as it has blessed me.