According to a national survey, the amount of people experiencing feelings of loneliness and isolation have reached an all-time high. Many adults indicated that they always feel alone, and some feel that their relationships are not meaningful. They don’t believe they have anyone to talk to who would understand or care about how they are feeling. For those of us who’ve struggled through periods of loneliness, we know how it can impact many other aspects of our lives. Once you’ve suffered through the sadness of it, you don’t ever want to go through it again. And when you finally find the person that makes all the difference in your life, it makes you appreciate them so much more.
Our need to connect to one another didn’t just evolve out of the blue. God wove the need for relationships and connections within us. He was intentional about teaching us spiritual lessons through loving and supporting others. His desire is to teach us first how important we are to Him, and to teach us how beautiful life is when we lean totally on Him. Just as we desire relationship, comradery, and fellowship with others, God desires it with each of us. So often, people neglect to see this.
Typically, the first thing that we do when we meet someone new is to get to know them better. Its common knowledge that trust and respect is built when we find a person that demonstrates a capacity to be loyal, honorable, and trustworthy. When you and I give our time, energy, and effort, we expect the person will reciprocate. This is all established through communication, and we all know that communication is a two-way street. Well, as children of God, it wouldn’t make sense for us to recognize the need for connection and communication, and seek it from others, but neglect to give it to the One who loves us more than any human could.
We all want to be respected, and when it comes to our Heavenly Father, it’s a must! God respects us so much, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins. He loves us that big! So, it only makes sense that talking with the Father requires that we honor who He is. It’s a requirement that respect and honor God. We must understand on some level the magnitude of grace He has extended us. We can talk to Him any time, and He desires us to do so. It’s mind blowing to think of it; that the Creator of the entire universe wants to be in our lives, and He wants us to involve Him in everything we do.
Even during our loneliest times, God wants to comfort us. Psalm 34:18(ESV) says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” This verse assures us that even though we may experience loneliness, we are never alone because God is always with us. Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two ways to approach feelings of loneliness. We can choose to sink very low in our hearts and minds, or we can see loneliness as a call to draw closer to God. Instead of turning to sadness, we can turn to Jesus. As he comforts us, we can open our hearts to God, because this is what He wants.
We must prioritize our relationship with Heavenly Father, because He should be the focal point of our lives. Jesus Christ teaches in Matthew 6:33(NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God is the One who supplies all our needs, but somehow, many believers have allowed the world to convince us that our completeness and wholeness can be found in other people, in relationships, or in material things. This isn’t true, and Solomon tells us this in the Old Testament.
After his father, King David, died, Solomon became the King of God’s people when he very young. One night, the Lord came to Solomon in a dream and told him to ask what he wanted and Heavenly Father would give it to him. Solomon replied in 1King 3:9(NLT), “Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” God was very pleased with Solomon’s request. He told him in 1King 3:12(NLT), “I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!”
God made Solomon an extremely wise person, and Solomon made a lifelong practice of pursing wisdom. He left no stone unturned and pursued anything he thought would advance his understanding. God also made him extremely rich, and there was nothing in the earth that Solomon wanted that he couldn’t have. He explored to his heart’s content, and he also explored to his heart’s discontent. God allowed Solomon to look under the hood, so to speak, of everything available to him, so that you and I could read and learn from Solomon’s wisdom. He said in Ecclesiastes 2:1-3(NLT), “1 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” 3 After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.” Solomon was searching for his soul to be filled and full, but Christ had not come yet, and nothing in the earth and nothing in all his riches and luxury could fill the void.
Ultimately, Solomon concluded that everything is pointless unless you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In Ecclesiastes 12:13(NLT), he said, “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” There is no one like our Heavenly Father, and He has no competition, because no one compares to Him. Our purpose of existence is to have a relationship with Him. As His sons and daughters, it is our privilege and honor to talk with God often, but we need to do more than this. We need to listen to God. This requires stillness and a commitment to spend quality time with Him through Jesus Christ. I would venture to say that everyone experiences periods where they feel lonely. If we will learn to use those times to grow closer to God through prayer and talking with Him often, we will witness His comfort and see His power at work in our lives. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Talking with God”, written by JMack, 4theChristianMan.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.