A Cure for Loneliness

Loneliness can be a heavy cross. Someone doesn't even need to be alone to be lonely; sometimes a lonely soul can hurt the most when physically surrounded by people.

There may not always be a solution to acute loneliness, as it may have been brought upon by many different sources: physical abandonment, someone moving away - maybe you yourself has moved away, or the ending of a relationship. There isn't a lot of comfort to be found sometimes.

God alone understands our pain - the ache, the longing, the sorrow - as you uniquely feel it and deal with it.

If you're like me, then you bury your hurts. But God sees where I bury it, He knows - and can define my feelings better than I can. I have to remind myself to turn to Christ, because it's what we were made to do: As the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory... (Jeremiah 13:11)

Another passage that has been of specific encouragement to me is Psalm 92:13-93:5

(13) [The righteous] are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 

    - To flourish means to 'grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.' (Dictionary.com) Notice the wording - PLANTED in the house of the Lord. Where is the house of the Lord? ANYWHERE THAT THE LORD DWELLS. No, not in a church building, but in the body - the hearts and minds of the believers.

    - "We are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."  2 Corinthians 6:16

    - “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God."  Revelation 21:3

    - The righteous are PLANTED there, in the courts of the Lord - and they flourish.

(14) They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, (15) to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 

    - The righteous never stop spiritually flourishing. I've noticed that a lot of the older believers often have advice and guidance for those spiritually younger than they. Spiritually, it seems the 'older' we become in Christ, the fuller we become in our relationship with Him - and we are able to pass it along to those younger than us.

    - My ROCK, my sure foundation... He calls us righteous only because He, being totally free of ANY kind of unrighteousness, cleansed us from OUR unrighteousness. We, who are filthy - COMPLETELY DEAD in sins (Ephesians 2:1-6) were raised - MADE ALIVE - in Christ! (I can't seem to wrap my head around that...)

He does that because of the truth in chapter 93:1-5:

(1) The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. (2) Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. (3) The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. (4) Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty! 

    - THE LORD REIGNS. We could not be rescued from sin and death if He did not. Yet He is! In. Every. Area. Of. Life. Have you forgotten that recently? I have. 

    - His throne is established of old! He REIGNS - has reigned, is reigning, forever will remain - and even the mighty waters of the earth reach up their voices to praise Him! 

    - MIGHTIER - than your stress, your problems, your hurts, mightier than the WATER OF THE WORLD - THE LORD ON HIGH IS MIGHTY!

(5) Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore.

   - He is TRUSTWORTHY - the most dependable friend in the world. It's hard to believe sometimes, but yet it's true. 

    - He is HOLY - perfect. He perfectly corrects and reprimands, loves, cares, and protects. Perfectly. FOREVERMORE - MORE THAN FOREVER! These things won't dissipate one day, they will never stop being part of who and what He is. Forevermore. 

I pray you are encouraged, friend, wherever you're at, whatever you're experiencing. Christ will never leave and we'd do well to remember just how amazing He is. 

Aching is a chance to find You as my comfort,

Fearful is a chance to feel You by my side,

Failing is a chance to fall into Your mercy,

Needing is a chance to know that You'll provide,

Hurting is a chance to find You as a healer,

Lonely is a chance to fall into Your love,

Broken is a chance to know You as Redeemer,

Empty is a chance to find that You're enough. 

And learning every hard time that's in store,

Is just another chance, a chance to know You more.*

When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  Psalm 91:15

<3 Berea

* This is from a spectacular song called Chance, by Jonny Diaz. I HIGHLY recommend listening to the whole thing, sadly it isn't on YouTube or I would have included the link here. *

** You may have noticed recently we have been posting every other week. This will go on until further notice, simply because of some unforeseen activity in our lives. We will do our best to be faithful throughout the summer! **