Alone - Psa 25:16
July 21, 2024
Loneliness is my least favorite thing about life. The thing I’m most worried about is just being alone without anyone to care for or someone who will care for me. —Anne Hathaway
loneliness epidemic… leads to depression, substance abuse, self-harm, suicide… impacts entire life… being set free from it is only possible in Christ…
Deut 31:6… “do not be terrified… Lord will go ahead of you… He’ll never abandon you…”
Matt 28:19-20… “be sure of this… I am with you always… to the end of the age…”
Rom 8:31-39… “who will separate us from God’s love… no one, nothing…”
Heb 13:5-6… “be content… because I will never leave or abandon you…”
loneliness is not found in any major bible translations… even lonely is found very sparingly… emotion brought by feelings of separation from other human beings…
very real, painful, scary… but there is hope and there are answers… pray…
Psa 25:15-17… “my eyes are always on the Lord… He will rescue me from the net of my enemy… turn to me, be gracious to me… I am lonely and afflicted…”
Psa 102… “I lie awake, lonely… He will listen to my prayer… not reject my plea…”
one of satan’s greatest weapons is isolation… keep you from God and people… created for relationship… meant to touch, see, talk, hear… isolation is demonic…
Gen 2:18… “it is not good for man to be alone…”
Prov 27:17… “as iron sharpens iron… so one person sharpens another…”
Eccl 4:9-12… “a cord of three strands is not easily broken…”
Matt 18:20… “where two or three gather together in My name… I am there…”
Acts 2:42-47… “all the believers were together… met, prayed, ate, gave together…”
Rom 12:5… “in Christ, we, though many, form one body… belonging to others…”
1Cor 5:4… “when you are assembled in the name of Jesus… there is power…”
Eph 6:10-18 msg… “no weekend war… life-or-death fight to finish against devil…”
Heb 10:24-25… “watch out for one another… not neglecting to gather together…”
lonely people are everywhere… theaters, restaurants, families, churches… in cities, on farms, in big crowds, in pulpits (70% pastors)… loneliness is not being alone or being lonesome… not just isolation… not a sin… many biblical heroes were lonely…
1Kings 18:22… “I, even I alone, am left as a prophet of the Lord…”
Psa 142:4… “no one cares about me… none take notice… no one is concerned…”
Jer 15:17… “I did not celebrate… I sat alone…”
Dan 10:8… “I was left alone… no strength in me… I was powerless…”
2Tim 4:6… “no one stood by me… everyone deserted me…
being alone with God is very good… healthy, necessary to our relationship…
Mark 6:30-32… “let’s go off and rest awhile… went to quiet place to be alone…”
Luke 5:16… “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed…”
John 6:15… “He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself…”
John 16:25-33… “you will scatter and leave Me alone… yet, I am not alone…
what is loneliness… inward emotion we are unneeded, uncared for, unwanted, unloved, unnoticed… more than being alone… very dangerous place to be…
Job 17… “eyes swollen from weeping… shadow of former self… where is hope…”
Psa 38:11… “loved ones stay away… fearing disease… family kept at distance…”
loneliness can be crippling and disabling… opens door for depression and death… destroys our basic needs to love and be loved… for someone to understand us… to be needed and wanted… must understand how to recognize and fight it…
Job 19… “relatives stay far away… friends have turned against me… rejected by my own family… my children despise me… close friends detest me… those I love turned against me…”
Prov 18:2… “fools take no pleasure in understanding… only expressing opinion…”
1Cor 1:21-31… “God has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe…”
important to be aware of what things can contribute to feelings of loneliness…
Change/Transition - job, house, town, school, divorce, death, new experiences…
2Tim 4:6… “time of my death is near… everyone abandoned me…”
Separation - from family, friends… extended vacation, college, military, marriage…
2Tim 4:9-13… “when you come… be sure and bring my cloak, books, papers…”
Opposition - persecution, hatred, misunderstanding, gossip, offense…
Psa 31:13… “heard gossip of many… terror on every side… conspired against me…”
Prov 16:28… “a troublemaker spreads conflict… a gossip separates close friends…”
Rejection - often the worst… causes great pain… betrayal by family and friends…
Psa 27:10… “even if my parents abandoned me… the Lord will hold me close…”
Psa 41:9… “even my best friend… one I trusted completely… has turned against me…”
Psa 55:12-14… “not enemy who insults me… it is my close friend…”
loneliness is often a feeling of not belonging… leads to action of isolation… how do we fight it… how do we find victory… what’s God’s cure for loneliness…
1Kings 19… “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life… prayed he would die… enough Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors… went and hid in a cave… God said, what are you doing here Elijah… I have served the Lord, but the people have broken their covenant with You, I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me… go out and stand in the presence of the Lord… wind, earthquake, fire, but the Lord was not in them… then, the Lord’s voice came in a gentle whisper… go back the way you came, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram, anoint Jehu to be king of Israel, anoint Elisha as My prophet, I will preserve 7000 others who have never bowed to Baal… Elijah went and found Elisha…”
Elijah stood alone and had great victory over demonic forces in chapter 18 (valley after mountain)… even in victory feels abandoned… enemy still trying to kill him… he’s isolated, terrified, alone… how does God lead him out of a bad place…
Worship - reestablish and rediscover intimate relationship with God…
1Kings 19:11… “go and stand in the Lord’s presence…”
Service - focus on others… get out of the cave… cast off self-pity and doubt… serve…
1Kings 19:15-18… “go back, travel, arrive… anoint Hazael… anoint Jehu… anoint Elisha…”
Friendship - find like-minded friends… stay close to those who encourage you…
1Kings 19:19-21… “Elijah left and found Elisha… who followed and served Him…”
2Kings 2… “Elijah said stay here… Elisha replied, I will not leave you (x3)…”
as you believe in Word… hope fills you with joy and peace… victory over worry, fear, depression, loneliness is not only possible, but confidently expected… takes strength, courage, family… choose to take steps… grace, one day at a time…
Psa 68:6… “God places the lonely in families… sets free and gives them joy…”
Matt 19:26… “with man this is impossible… but with God all things are possible…”
Rom 15:13… “may God of hope… fill you with joy and peace… as you believe…”
1Cor 10:23-24… “no one is to seek his own good… but the good of others…”
2Cor 6:1-2… “don’t receive grace in vain… now is the acceptable time… today…”
2Cor 11:3… “serpent deceives… minds corrupted from simplicity in Christ…”