Loneliness

From Passion and Purity :

"It is quite possible to waste the present altogether. [...] Sometimes this loneliness inside hurts so badly. [So what do we do with loneliness?]

Be still and know that He is God. Use that stillness to quiet your heart before God...Get to know Him.

Remember that you are not alone. 'He will not fail thee neither forsake thee. Be strong and of good courage.' (Deut. 31:8) [...] Never mind if you cannot feel His presence. He is there.

Give thanks. 'For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.' (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Refuse self-pity. Turn your thoughts to Christ who has already carried your griefs and sorrows.

Accept your loneliness. It is one stage, and only one stage, on a journey that brings you to God. It will not always last.

Offer up your loneliness to God. [...] God can transform it for the good of others.

Do something for somebody else. No matter who or where you are, there is something you can do, somebody who needs you. Pray that you may be an instrument of God's peace...

The important thing is to receive this moment's experience with both hands. Don't waste it. 'Wherever you are, be all there...Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.'

[When things don't go my way does that give me cause to] resent...be miserable...be rude...be in disgust? 'Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.' [...] We can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. [...] This is what the Bible says. That means it must be not only true, but possible, and possible for me.

[...] The effect of my troubles depends not on the nature of the troubles themselves but on how I receive them. I can receive them with both hands in faith and acceptance, or I can rebel and reject. [...]

Taken in a spirit of trust, even loneliness contributes to the maturing of character, even the endurance of separation and silence and that hardest thing of all, uncertainty, can build in us a steady hope." [End of quote]

Thoughts: It is so easy for me to dwell on what the past was like or what I imagine the future to be like that I forget to pay attention to the present. I have seen God working, though, and helping me to learn lots of lessons from the present. He is teaching me to live in the present and be thankful for the situations He has my in here and now.

Do I take JOY in times of loneliness or uncertainty? Not usually...but this summer the Lord is really teaching me to be thankful in ALL things. I want to be someone who accepts in faith and trust everything the Lord gives me. I want to be able to attest to the fact that, if I just trust in the Lord, God used separation and relative silence and uncertainty to build up a hope in me. A hope that God knows best and that He cares about me and will always be with me.