Aspects of Loneliness
Loneliness in Witness - Genesis Chapters 6 - 8
There are many experiences in life which are common to all of us. At some time or other we all have to face pain and suffering. Unless we live on desert islands, we will all know the grief and sorrow of losing a friend or loved one in death. We will all face disappointments, having our hopes dashed to the ground, or seeing them disappear as mist in the early sun - this is all part of the world in which we live!
There is, however, one emotion which we all experience, but to which we seldom admit; it is that awful sense of loneliness which grips our hearts, coming unannounced and unwanted, and often when we least expect it. Loneliness has many side effects; it can make us withdrawn and unsocial, even resentful and bitter; it can change our characters completely and it can give Satan, the enemy of our souls, the opportunity of attacking us more successfully, causing us to doubt the love which God has for us.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta says that "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty" and William Cowper, the great hymn-writer tells us that "Absence from those we love is worse than death." Perhaps you are passing through a time of great loneliness today; if so, this message is for you!
In this study we are going to look at men and women in the Bible who faced loneliness, and see if we can get some real help from their experiences. In this introductory talk I want us to look at two really exciting Bible verses which are found in the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 13 verses 5 and 6. The writer makes three points, which we will call Contentment, Comfort and Confidence, and there probably isn't one person who wouldn't like such emotions.
Contentment. In the first place the writer challenges us - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have." It doesn't matter where we live or what circumstances we find ourselves in, there is always the temptation to be dissatisfied with what we have. This is human nature and the sales men and women of the world play on it, offering to enrich our lives with new and glittering goods and services. People in the gambling industry play upon our natural desire to want more money, so that Great Britain, once known as "a Christian country" spends far more money on gambling than on helping people who are in need. The writer of this verse says that we need to face up to this, and ask God for a spirit of contentment, free from the love of money which attacks society in every country.
In the early days of the ministry of Jesus people asked what action He wanted them to take in response to His teaching and when some soldiers enquired "What should we do?" He told them "Be content with your pay!" You may very well say that your circumstances are so poor that no-one could possibly be content with them; well, remember that the Apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances", and when in another prison cell he could say "If we have food and clothing we will be content with that."
Comfort - Thankfully the verses we are looking at today do not end with the challenge to be content; if that was all we could offer there would little point in bringing the message. They give us some good reasons for being content, as they go on to say "Because God has said 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'." What an antidote for loneliness, to know the constant presence of the Living God, day and night; to know that when we close our eyes in sleep He is still very much awake; when we go on a journey we don't leave Him behind; when we feel forsaken and even betrayed He is still there with us whispering words of real comfort and assurance, telling us that there will never be a moment when He will desert us. These words were written for Christians, and before we can claim this powerful promise we need to be sure that we have invited the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts and given our lives over to Him.
Confidence - Once we know that we are true Christians, cleansed by the blood of Christ, saved by His grace and indwelt by His Holy Spirit, then we have a confidence which the world can neither give nor take away, and verse 6 tells us that we can "Say with confidence 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Perhaps you're feeling lonely right now; you don't seem to have a friend in the world; there is no-one who will stand up for you or help you. Everyone seems to have deserted you. Why don't you accept this wonderful promise of God that He will never leave you, so that you can say with confidence "The Lord is my Helper"; not just One who is ready to help all Christians, but your Helper, the One who has committed Himself to being with you constantly, especially when you feel all alone. Once you know this you can go on with the verse "I will not be afraid"; you might well be very fearful if you are on your own, but if you have the Living God with you then He will take the fear right away. This will enable you to finish off the verse by asking the question "What can man do to me?" Men can attack us, harm us, say hurtful and untrue things about us and desert us, but if we can have the Comfort and Confidence of God's Presence with us it will make all the difference. We will not be tackling our problems alone, nor facing the opposition on our own, we will have the Strong Arm of the Lord to Protect and Guard us, and His Presence to Guide us.
I close with a word of warning. Only too often we, as Christians, want to take the promises of the Bible without responding to its commands. We have seen that the verses in Hebrews that we have been looking at commence with a Command to be Content, and we cannot expect to experience God's Presence if we are constantly dissatisfied with our lot. But if, with God's help, we show a spirit of Contentment we can then go on to experience the Comfort and Confidence that the verse promises. May each of us, whether experiencing loneliness or not, know the joy and assurance of His abiding presence, confident in the knowledge that when He says "I will never leave you" He really means it!