“I feel alone”. A common expression. Do you like being alone? Do you like being alone with God?
One can be lonely anywhere. You don’t have to be alone to experience loneliness. Chances are deep loneliness comes when you are alone, but you can feel isolated even when you are in a crowd. (e.g., going to work on a subway or eating lunch in a crowded restaurant.)
Mark 1:35 — “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Real Feelings of Loneliness
If you have secrets about emotional or physical scarring in your past, it will cause you to be protective and increase that feeling of being alone. Secrets keep you from creating meaningful friendships, and you may say, “if they only knew.” For example, veterans may have secrets about their war activities. A woman may have been abused as a child. You may have cheated on your tax return or worse yet, cheated on your wife. Many secrets are buried for years and, if they are bottled up, they become issues that lead to inappropriate anger, alcoholism, drug addiction, and isolation. Good healthy friendships can deal with loneliness and many of those deep-seated issues.
However, loneliness with God is worse. Being separated from him is an eternal issue, and one we neglect every day.
The one relationship that I have in my life that has grown over the years is the one with God. Indeed, my faith in Jesus Christ is connected to my experiences and friendships with others. The time I spend alone with God deepens my faith and love for him than all the others, and it is the one I abuse the most. Spending time with the one who has saved me from a Godless eternity, who loves me for who I am, who knows my deepest secrets and who gives me the strength to love others is the one I should desire to spend time with and yet it is the most difficult.
“I Feel Alone”? Be Alone With God
Because I cannot see God or touch him with my hands is no excuse. I sense his presence in my heart, and that heart is replenished when I spend time talking freely with him alone.
Here are some tips. Find a place that eliminates the distractions. For me, that means in a room by myself without digital devices. Set aside time every day to be alone with God. You may not be able to do it every day, but if you don’t plan for it, you probably won’t do it. When you start, try to empty yourself of yourself. Let it all out. Search your feelings and thoughts and give them to Him. Be humble. He IS God. You are not. Understand that this relationship is undeserved, and only the love of Christ has made this possible. Be open. Don’t ask for favors. Ask him for peace of mind, for grace, for creative solutions, for intervention, and acceptance.
If you are lonely, be alone with God. He can restore you in ways others cannot. And being alone with God can restore your relationship with others in ways you cannot. In that restoration, you will find God’s healing powers.
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