“My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.” Psalm 25:15-16 NIV
We live in an age of ultra-connectedness through devices and communication applications of all kinds, and yet reports of loneliness are steadily rising. Studies and statistics abound from countries around the world, enlightening us about the adverse effects of loneliness on our minds and bodies. But when we are feeling the pain of loneliness, these facts are no comfort, only confirmation that we are not alone in our loneliness.
The evil one sees our loneliness and tempts us to self-comfort with food, immorality, drugs, and unhealthy relationships. Satan promises connection and fulfillment in our lifestyle choices, but he lies. Connecting with others around our temptations, our job, our love of food, beer, wine, or fashion, groups us but leaves us only wanting more.
The world tells us that what we need is community, better friends, or professional therapy, but in the end, we find that people aren’t the answer. Friends and family can surround us while our lives still feel empty, and our hearts are filled with longing to connect.
What we really want and need is to be fully known and fully loved, not for how we look, what we can do, or what we have, but for ourselves. However, in this fallen world of broken people, we will not find this type of fulfillment.
In Psalm 68, David sings praise to God because God protects and pursues those who are alone in the world. God puts these lonely ones in families and brings them into freedom and joy. Oh, friend, there is a remedy for our loneliness, and it is in looking to Jesus!
When Jesus went to the cross, He entered our loneliness, took it upon Himself. He experienced the ultimate loneliness by enduring the agony of separation from His Father so that we could experience eternal union with Him. Whereas before, we were those who were “disconnected from the Head” (Colossians 2:19), and this produced loneliness, now, in Jesus Christ, our Head (1 Corinthians 11:3), we are united forever with God.
In this life, we will feel lonely at times, but it is only a temporary feeling and never an actual reality for believers (Hebrews 13:5-6). In Jesus, we are fully known and fully loved (1 John 3:1). We belong in our eternal family (Luke 10:20), and Jesus loves us with an everlasting love from which we can never be separated (Romans 8:38-39). God’s Holy Spirit fills and comforts us until we are face to face with our Beloved Jesus (John 14:26).