Alone again…naturally…We all feel that way at times.
Broken promises…
broken relationships.
Surrounded by people, yet no one listening…
no…not listening but understanding.
Who understands your deepest longings?
Who gets you'?
So there you are…alone again, naturally!
There was a song that came out in 1972 by that title. Alone Again, Naturally, by Gilbert O'Sullivan, was a beautiful and simple pop song...with lyrics that were steeped in depressing sentiments. Let me share just a few of the lyrics here:
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
All about God and His mercy
For if He really does exist
Why does He desert me
In my hour of need?
I truly am indeed
Alone again, naturally
It is not surprising to me that this song topped the music charts for 6 weeks straight. Why? Because there is within each one of us a longing to be known, fully known. It is as if there is a hole that needs to be filled. We look to all kinds of things to fill that hole…circumstances, people, material possessions. And when those things bring disappointment in our lives…we feel as if we have been knocked down…let down. We feel as if we are left alone to deal with the aftermath of disappointment in unmet expectations. When we hear of someone else experiencing those same disappointments in life, we don't feel quite so alone. Ironic isn't it?
So many times in our aloneness we turn to God…not for comfort, but to question. Why? If you are there, why did (fill in the blank) happen? Why do I feel left alone to struggle with these feelings, with this issue? Possibly even, as the song suggests, we begin to doubt God and His existence, His great love, and His mercy. Ever been there? When I find myself wondering…where are you God…I know I need to turn away from the voice of the enemy and listen to the Voice of Truth.
The truth is…
We were created for relationship.
It is not natural for man or woman to be alone (Genesis 2:18). God created us to be in relationship. To live in community with Himself and others. However, the enemy of our soul wants us to believe the lie that there is some one person or thing out there that can complete us…that perhaps God is not enough. When people disappoint us, when things don't fill the gap, we feel abandoned and alone, but the reality is...this is a lie from the enemy of our soul!God is faithful
He is faithful even when it seems our world as we know it is falling apart. He promises never to leave us or forsake us. Be honest with God about how you feel and what you perceive your circumstance to be. Whether you are disappointed, angry, hurt, no matter the feeling…God understands and loves you and wants you to come to Him. While all of your questions and frustrations may not be explained away, He will offer peace and rest.Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. ~Matthew 11:28-30
Only God, through His son, can satisfy our deepest longing.
That hole? Those deep longings within you? It cannot be satisfied with marriage, children, or any other thing we try and fill it up with. Are those things bad? No, both are from the hand of God and are indeed great blessings. However, He did not give us the covenant of marriage and the blessing of children to fill up our emptiness. If that were the case…then where would the hope be for the single or the barren? Or for that matter, why would there be so many lonely married women and men?We must acknowledge that God is working in us something greater than what we immediately see. We must quit pushing against His greater plan for our lives, and join with Him in accomplishing all we were created to be.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and monetary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18If we are longing for something more than our relationship with Jesus Christ, then that something is an idol. With God our happiness cannot depend on another human being, or material possessions, or even our own health. Jesus alone provides us with the strength and the ability to lead a productive, rich, and purposeful life.
Jesus understands the pain of loneliness.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like on from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ~Isaiah 53:3Jesus is the only one who truly understands the pain of loneliness. He knows the pain of betrayal at the hands of one of His very own disciples. He, who knew no sin, went to the cross willingly. He was rejected and abused. He died an excruciatingly painful death on the cross. He did that to pay the penalty for my sins, for your sins, for the sins of us all. In Him we have forgiveness. HE is our righteousness. It gives me comfort to know that HE is my advocate. He understands.
God can be trusted.
You are not alone in your struggles. God is with you. He is ready to help, guide, strengthen and encourage you. God loves and supports His children. He can be trusted with you and for you!What then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all…how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died…more that that, who was raised to life…it at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:31-39The problem comes in that we can only trust someone to the point that we know them. In order to fully trust Him we need to know Him, and we can only know as far as we know His Word, the Bible. Our own ability to comprehend God is limited.(Isaiah 55:8-9). The true God is revealed to us, all that we need to understand of who He is and how He works in our lives, through His Word.
Never alone again.
His Word…His story…His promise to us that He will never leave us. When Jesus returned to the Father after His resurrection He left His disciples with a promise. That promise is for you and I as well.And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever…the Spirit of Truth. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ~John 14:16-18Never.alone.again. I am a living testament to that truth. Through it all…pain, fear, self-doubt, rejection, loneliness, death…and so much more. He has never left me. His promises are true. He can be trusted.
You are not alone.
