Loneliness – The Silent Agony
Look to the right and see; For there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me;
No one cares for my soul. (Psalm 142:4 – NASB)
Loneliness is a strange and subtle beast; it can afflict a soul in a crowd, in isolation, and even in a close family setting. It is adaptable to every situation and preys on the weak and the strong. We can feel isolated physically, socially, professionally, psychologically and morally.
Loneliness is a silent agony – no one hears our cry – we suffer it inwardly, the anguish only evident to ourselves. It is also invisible to all but a few perceptive souls who can recognize the symptoms and come alongside to offer aid.
God has provided many natural remedies for loneliness.
True friendship with either of the sexes, or in a group setting can ease the burden of loneliness. A social life, church fellowship and family gatherings can keep loneliness at bay
Marriage is part of God’s natural order. It is designed to provide fulfilment on many levels. If it is harmonious and loving there are few things that can equal it for its power to bring comfort and keep loneliness away. When one spouse dies, however, loneliness can rush in like an invading force. My own father was such an attentive husband that, when he died, my mother survived him by only a couple of years. She no longer knew how to live alone.
Ambition, or a Calling, can provide purpose a sense of destiny; it will motivate us toward some noble effort that will occupy, for a time, the space usually claimed by loneliness.
I could go on to list other temporal means to deal with loneliness but I think you get my drift: there are means and devices that can assuage, for a time, the plague of loneliness.
To pour all your life into these things, however, in the mistaken belief they will fully satisfy the soul is a fantasy. It is a mirage that disappears the moment you think you have found it.
As real as these temporal blessings can be, they cannot address the cause of loneliness, which is the departure of the soul from God. When sin entered the world it separated the human family from God and created and empty space in the soul that was intended for God alone.
Blaise Pascal said: There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Jesus said:
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 – NASB)
Coming to God through Jesus Christ is the only permanent answer to loneliness. He alone gives meaning to all the other healing balms God has given us.
Loneliness
© Saturday 4th April 2015 – by Christopher Shennan
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 – NASB)
I’ve known a silent agony
That torments while staying hidden;
It plays a sad tune of mourning,
Though it’s never been bidden.
What is this plague?
It’s loneliness.
It plays its tune even in a crowd,
Or in a lonely room – alone;
Steals the joy of being alive –
Makes the heart heavy – like a stone.
It’s loneliness.
This plague afflicts the human race
And few have discovered its cure;
They’ve unearthed many counterfeits,
But nothing that is true and pure.
It’s loneliness.
So what is loneliness, my friend?
What is it at its very core?
Unfulfilled longing after God;
Unless satisfied – it is sore!
It’s loneliness.
A wise man said there’s a vacuum
In the human soul shaped like God;
Unless you invite Him back in,
It’s a lonely path you’ll have trod.
It’s loneliness.
So choose now, my friend, to seek Him;
Make Him your joy and crown;
He’ll send your loneliness packing –
Not a thing will then get you down.
Not Loneliness.
Please visit My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
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Loneliness by David Hodgson. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this site. We made no changes to this photo.
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