It comes in many forms , shapes and sizes. It is not a respecter or people. It can linger in the heart of the most popular and most successful person. It can hide in the heart of the youngest or oldest person in the room.
Loneliness can sneak up on you. It can find you in a crowded room or speak to you as you lie in bed next to your spouse.
Loneliness can haunt you when you lest expect it. It often brings companions with it – self-hate, anger, depression, discouragement, and the “if only’s“.
“If only” condemns us for the choices we could have or should have made. "If only I had…" "If only I hadn’t..."
Loneliness is a dark, all consuming feeling. There was a time when it seemed loneliness was my only friend. Although a very painful place, it was a familiar place. I thought our friendship would never end.
I am not sure of the day or the hour when I finally bid loneliness good-bye. I wish I could recall the moment when my loneliness ended. I cannot, but maybe that is because it was gradual. For me, loneliness left my side much as the darkness of the night is replaced by the rising of the sun.
Some would like you to believe when you accept Jesus into your heart, it is some sort of “magic” . The magic of believing He is Lord and Savior, will somehow guarantee a life of no future problems or negativity.
Salvation is not a magic solution. Salvation is the way, the truth and the life. It is the path by which we are made whole. It is the means by which we are able to not only leave the darkness and its companions but to overcome them. Salvation gives us the power to break free from our old companions make new ones.
The love of God, the companionship of His Son and the joy of knowing Him can and will replace the darkness if we allow Him to do so. He is the light of the world. He can enter replace the darkness in an instant, much like switching on a light bulb or gradually displace the darkness like dawn eclipses the darkness of night.
I have been laying awake tonight, thinking and praying for you, lonely one.