Body: | Bible Help to Overcome Loneliness!
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A friend told me recently, "I visited a lonely old lady just the other day.
She was in a rest home, the victim of a stroke. For her, life had become
bitter and frustrating. She complained because she felt her friends and
family had almost deserted her. Nothing that was done for her was quite
right. She felt all alone". Now this picture is not uncommon in these
times. Even in areas of vast population, there are many people who are
lonely. Perhaps at times, it is almost a certainty that you and I will
experience this feeling of helplessness that we call loneliness.
Many years ago in the period of the Divided Kingdom of Israel, during the
reign of King Ahab and his queen Jezebel, there lived a Godly man by the
name of Elijah. Yet after Elijah fought against the evils of his day, and
particularly after his contest on Mount Camel with the 450 false prophets
of Baal, he felt that he must be all alone and he wanted to run away. He
did so, and then he sat down in a cave and cried out, "I, even I only am
left, and they seek my life to take it away" (I Kings 19:10). Now God's
question to Elijah has meaning for us today. "What dost thou here, Elijah?"
(I Kings 19:9). Of all people in the world, what are you doing here? The
courageous prophet sulks alone in a cave, feeling sorry for himself and
longing to die. His mood has changed from triumph to despair. Since
loneliness is part of each person's experience, what are the cures for it?
May I make these suggestions?
1. Realize that such times of loneliness are common to all people, but they
should be temporary. The psalmist asked himself, "Why art thou cast down,
oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me?". And then immediately
he comes back with the answer, "Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise
Him for the help of His countenance" (Psalm 42: 5).
2. Remember that God is always available to help you overcome loneliness.
One of the verses that has helped me puts it this way, "But I trusted in
thee, 0 Lord. I said, thou art my God, my times art in thy hands" (Psalms
31:14,15). If God is directing your life, you will not have any real cause
to worry or be alarmed. "In nothing be anxious", wrote the Apostle Paul,
"but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all
understanding shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 4:6,7).
3. Decide to get busy helping others. If Elijah had answered the question
"What doest thou here?, he would have had to say, "Nothing. Absolutely
nothing". That was why he had time to feel sorry for himself and be lonely.
God involves us in good works to our great advantage. Help those who are
sick or shut-in. Call a person on the phone to cheer him up. Mail a card of
sunshine to a friend. You and I are in the world to serve, to live, to
help, and when we are doing this we just don't have time to feel sorry for
ourselves. That's the way God answers our problems of loneliness. Once, Sir
Winfred Grenfall, a famous surgeon of England was asked what was his-most
thrilling experience. He related an experience involving the invitation he
received to deliver the graduating speech to four hundred nurses of the
Massachusetts General Hospital. Just prior to the time of his graduation
message, he learned that eight nurses were desperately needed in Labrador
to work in his hospital. He decided to make a plea. "Yet all I have to
offer", he told the graduates, "is clothes, room and board, and work. You
will be giving one year of your lives for God". When Dr. Grenfall asked for
volunteers there was a murmur that went up over the whole crowd. Then he
raised his hand for silence and asked, "Are there eight of you who will
give one year of your life to my Master?". A moment later about three
fourths of that class of nurses stood up. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus said,
"Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these my brethren, even these last, you
did it unto me". These suggestions will help overcome loneliness.
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