January 9th, 2022

When Lonely Periods Hit

      Have you ever gone through a period of loneliness? Like you feel like you're all alone in this world? I know I have. I'm actually going through a lonely period right now. But did you know that, even when we feel alone, we're not really alone? God has reasons for our periods of loneliness that we may only see in years to come when we reflect on them, but one thing is for sure; we're not as "alone" as we think we are. In John 16:32 NIV, Jesus said, "a time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my father is with me." Even Jesus faced loneliness. But when everyone scattered and left him alone, he was never really alone. He had God the Father with him everywhere he went. We aren't excluded from that, either. God is with us everywhere we go.

      Now, I know that's great and all, but if you are new to faith, or have a hard time trusting that God is really with you (even though he absolutely is!), then He gave us a physical place on earth that we can congregate to for unity in Christ. This place is illustrated in Psalms 122:1 NIV. It says, "I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'let us go to the house of the Lord.' " God gave us a church! He gave us people-other believers- to rejoice in his name with! When we go to church, we all become family. We all become friends. We all become brothers and sisters in Christ. If you don't have a church, find one and jump headfirst into fellowship. If you already have a home church, then spend some time getting to know your church family. Pray for them. Pray with them. Praise God together!