Defeating Loneliness in Your Life
Loneliness is a drag. An unseen, downward-sucking current. Deeper and deeper it pulls, submerging its prey in a sea of infinite blackness. Hard times are hard. Going them alone is game over. Mostly because of the lies loneliness tells.
Being cut off from outside sources of affirmation turns our internal monologue against us. Executing an inside hit job to perfection.
“You’re no good. No one cares. It won’t get better.”
The prophet Elijah experienced this.
Being a man of spiritual conscience in a backslidden nation placed him in the minority for sure. People of faith usually are. But loneliness took a discouraging narrative even farther. All the way to the end of the line.
“I am the only one left,” Elijah eventually said. And this he believed.
Only, it wasn’t true. But loneliness could care less about the truth. Mania is its goal. And mania run amok will have us saying as Elijah said, “Go ahead and me, God.”
But God didn’t kill him.
God saved Elijah by exposing internal falsehood with its only worthy adversary. The truth. “There are 7,000 other prophets, alive and well, just like you,” God said. Translation, “You are not as alone as you think you are.”
God also prescribed the weary prophet a nap and a good meal. Afterward, when Elijah was in a better frame of mind God evicted him from his cave and sent him to find his 7,000 other brothers.
This past week I attended a big conference. It proved to be very uplifting. There were 15,000 other different people like me there. Fighting the same battles, worshiping the same savior, navigating the same treachery..
I can’t say there was one message, one song, or one conversation that encouraged my heart. It was everything. All week. Everybody.
But I also remember life as a church planter. Having a full time job, three kids, and no per diem made it difficult to go to where the 7,000 were. In the throes of this I became isolated, eventually spiraling into depression. I succumbed to the lies loneliness tells.
I write about this in my brand new book, “Better After Burnout.”
Perhaps you’re in a similar spot. Alone in your struggle. Telling yourself how hopeless things are. Don’t waste your time arguing with that voice. You’ll never win. Instead, get some rest, eat a sandwich, and pray. Then, when you feel better, come out of the cave.
You and your future are worth it. Not only do I believe this, but a whole bunch of other people do too. Maybe it’s time for you to get up and go find them.
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