Phil WadeVital signs-Thursday,July 9th,2020
Feelings of loneliness can really overwhelm us, and in today’s world, loneliness has become more and more common. You are not alone, even when you feel like you are. God is with you, and He wants you to lean into His love for you.
The Old Testament Israelite King David shows us how to seek God in our loneliness. Time and time again in his Psalms, he calls out to God in His loneliness. He doesn’t hide his feelings. He doesn’t ignore them, but he does give them up to the Lord. Sometimes he’s angry. Sometimes he’s scared, and sometimes he’s just sad. No matter what he’s feeling though, he trusts that the Lord will be there for Him.
We can follow His lead. God listens to us and cares. He wants you to come to Him and to dwell in the fact that He loved you enough to die for you. He wanted community with you so badly that He gave himself up for you. He didn’t need this. He wanted it.
In the New Testament, God uses His disciples and apostles to establish His Church. The Church is the body of believers, and while the members sometimes fall short, Christ himself promises that not even the gates of hell can prevail against the Church itself. God knows that we need one another to get through this life. We can turn to Him for strength and turn to other believers for support. Through the church, we can see the start of His perfect community once again.
“Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.”
Psalms 25:8-21 NKJV