If you go to a room full of people but there is no one to call a friend, you will find loneliness.
If your dreams come true but you don't glorify God in those dreams, you will find loneliness.
If you can travel the world but refuse to see God in his creation; you will find loneliness.
If you become rich but do not honor God with your money, you will find loneliness.
Feeling complete has nothing to do with what we acknowledge, or how many friends we have, but it has everything to do with choosing to seek God in everything we do.
If there is one thing we are constantly being reminded of in this period of time it is how many friends everyone else has or how great other people’s romantic life is. People post the “best of” while in our own lives, we see both sides. We know our hurt, pain, and loneliness, not on social media, which can make us feel insignificant and even magnify our loneliness when looking at everyone else’s highlights.
Psalm 68:4-6 says, “Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”
Loneliness and being alone don’t always coincide. I have been in a room full of people and felt lonely as ever, but I have also been very content by myself. If you feel lonely around your friends, ask yourself why? Could it be you have nothing in common with them anymore? Could it be your goals, dreams, and accomplishments don’t feel valued? If so, that is a good reason to feel lonely. Maybe the people we surround ourselves with do not know the fulfillment of following Christ, which is why they feel so empty. But it is not your job to fill or fix them; that is something only God can do. People are not projects, so you are not called to take on that burden. Can you love them and pray for them? Absolutely! However, you do not need to keep putting yourself in these situations that will only hurt you.
You could feel lonely due to longing for a romantic relationship or just wanting to feel seen and understood. I feel misunderstood 95% of the time. I either come on too strong or like I don’t care at all, constantly trying to find the balance between being slow to trust and allowing myself to be vulnerable. At times, I have felt lonely because no one knew what I was going through because I wouldn’t let them or felt like I had no one to talk with.
If you feel lonely, David reminds us in the above verse that God responds to his people's hurts. He does this by providing fellowship for the lonely and filling the prisoners with joyful songs. In the days of the early church, orphans and widows were left for dead, but the church made it their mission to find a place for them. The lonely were no longer so, they had people who cared for them when no one else did. That is an example of the church embodying the spirit of God.
Most people in this world long to be complete, but the only one that is genuinely complete alone is God. David says, sing to God, praise God, and then you will feel the emptiness inside of you filled with God's love and joy. Your location or situation is no match for God; he even gives joy to the once broken and defeated prisoners. This is a promise of God. You will have hurt, feel lonely, and feel exhausted, but God is our renewal. Go to him in prayer, read his word, seek after him because he will provide.
Prayer: Dear God, I pray over everyone today feeling lonely. I pray you provide them with godly friends and encouragement. I pray in the meantime, they feel your presence over them, caring for them. I pray they know how much you love and long to hear from them. Amen
Sources: Layman’s Bible Commentary: Psalms thru Song of Songs Volume 5. NLT Study Bible.