Hey everybody!!! Disclaimer: I completely forgot to post this devotion and the next one...but a fresh one will be written for today as well... Love ya!
Recognizing the Spirit of Loneliness
“God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” Psalm 68:6
Hey everybody. I hope that this day is wonderful for you. Last night and the last few days actually, I have been thinking about loneliness. There are several definitions for loneliness; there are two in particular: 1) sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned and 2) the state of being alone in solitary isolation. I know that feeling all too well. To be quite honest, its more than a feeling, as the definition says it’s a state of mind, a spirit. I was lonely growing up, not because of not having a sister or friends. Actually, I have always been able to make friends without a problem. Loneliness is different from being alone or by yourself. For me it was the result of some event or tragedy in my life: 1) as a child following moving to different places and a new school, 2) primarily after experiencing and witnessing some difficult things as a child and teenager, 3) after I got sick in college, 4) when I moved back here and in dealing with all the things that have happened since. But last year I started identifying changes I wanted to make in myself, mainly how I looked at things and my attitude towards life. Loneliness is not having someone you feel you can talk to, and it is also not allowing yourself to reach out to others. You isolate yourself in nearly every way imaginable, of course hurting yourself all the more.
I chose the scripture above for several reasons. 1) There is a way out of loneliness—turning to God. If you give those feelings and that spirit over to God for Him to eliminate, He will do it. 2) He will, as the scripture says, put you in a family—be it your own family, the church, or other people that can help you recognize your wealth. You allow yourself to stay in “prison” to being lonely by not dealing with it and complaining about it. When I got sick, which I have to say, was the lowest point in my life, I could not deal with other people. Quite frankly, I hated to even get up and look in the mirror at myself. I had to couple that with going to class everyday as if things were normal. Everyday someone would say something in regards to how my face was looking (prednisone is the devil I tell you!) or me gaining weight and I would go break down. One day one of the side effects of the medicine had crushed my spirit so badly that I cried for the rest of the day. No one can understand that feeling if you have never been lonely; it seems that even God has left you. 3) But it’s only a lie to believe that God has left you alone to deal with the evils of life. Once I got back to a safe place emotionally, I was able to recognize that it was only the devil, aiming to break me and discourage me, to distort the fact that God was there witnessing what I was going through and carrying me through it. In Deuteronomy 31:6&8 Moses tells the Israelites then Joshua that God will never leave or forsake them. That does not only apply to them because it also applies to all of us through Christ’s provision. God will give you what you need to get through every situation. After praying that God help me get past it, I was able to relish in the joy of spending time with the people around me that cared about me. Once you give things to God who is much greater than yourself—and yes that is hard, I have to remember this everyday—you can allow Him to fix it and you. Truth be told, loneliness is only a warping and distortion of the truth—the truth that God is always there.
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
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