Rev. Johnson V
28th August 2011

Loneliness is an emotion, a state of mind. It is universally accepted as being an unpleasant emotion. Everyone goes through loneliness. Even our Lord Jesus did, when He came to this earth. Loneliness, in itself, is not a sin. But it can lead us to sin. One need not be alone to experience loneliness. We can be lonely even when in a crowd or in a family. Loneliness is prescribed as punishment to law breakers, in the form of solitary confinement. Society sees loneliness as a sort of punishment, but it need not be so.

Loneliness can be turned into something constructive, such as when David turned his loneliness, as described in Psalm 142, into an opportunity to draw closer to God and to learn to lean on Him. It is important for us to learn how to use our lonely times. Loneliness is fertile, open ground, in which something will grow, whether we do something about it or not. We can choose to cultivate something that we want, or allow unwanted things to grow by our inaction.

What causes loneliness? Loneliness can be caused by a number of things, some of which are loss of a loved one or a job, accidents, sickness, failures, persecution, wrong attitudes and even success. Sometimes even natural growth can make us lonely. Any change, positive or negative, can make us lonely. Wrong attitudes that lead to loneliness are pride, sarcasm, anger, poor choices and others.

Success can make us lonely. The Psalmist in Psalm 17:7-13, tells God that because of His blessings, his enemies now hate him. While he can destroy his enemies, he turned to God and sought His help in handling the people who are bent on destroying him. It is always better to allow God to work the victory in our lives than trying to make it happen on our own terms. Our God is much bigger than us. We can trust Him with our future. Wrong attitude can make us lonely. The Psalmist in Psalm 69:5-10, tells God how much he loves Him and how his passion for Him has caused him some trouble. Things that he did not handle properly have destroyed his relationships. Again, the Psalmist reaches out to God to help him and to direct him.

How does God respond in our times of trouble? Psalm 27:9-13, Psalm 34:18-22 and Psalm 107:41 are verses that will strengthen us, for over and over again it tells us only one thing – that whenever we are alone, whatever we are going through, God is with us. Hallelujah! If we will only understand the nature of our Creator, we will know that He loves fellowship. He created us for fellowship with Him. He created us with a specific-shaped vacuum that only He can fill in our lives. He created us to have a deep longing for His Presence. When we understand that, we will understand that our lonely times are opportunities to get closer to Him. The Bible says that we were never, ever truly be alone. For God says in Hebrews 13:5, that He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

What do we do when we are lonely? Psalm 43:5 and Psalm 146:1-5 are clear that we must praise Him. We win favour with God by worshipping, praising and believing Him. We must respect those who correct us and not get bitter, Psalm 141:5. We must walk blamelessly, even in less than ideal circumstances, Psalm 101:2-6.

Here are 2 principles that will help us turn our loneliness into something useful for our God and King.

1. We must fill our lonely times with praises to God. We must fill our lives, irrespective of the season we are in, with worship and praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is not because He needs to know how great He is, but because we need to be reminded of how awesome He is.
2. We must give away our time, talents and money to the Kingdom of God. Invest whatever we have, in the Presence of God. Then loneliness will be converted into something constructive.