AVOIDING the TRAPS of LONELINESS
Today’s Message of Encouragement from
Discovering A BETTER LIFE MINISTRIES https://abl-alb.wixsite.com/discoverabetterlife
(Stories of Real People, Real Events, Real Places)
We are dedicated to providing Spiritual FOOD FOR THOUGHT
To HELP Men and Women Find HOPE
THROUGH SHARING GOD’S GRACE and LOVE!
(Ron Bainbridge, Editor)
(January 20th, 2020)
AVOIDING the TRAPS of LONELINESS
Friend, when we come to think about it, LONELINESS… must be the most desolate word in the human language. I say this, because it plays no favourites; ignores all rules of courtesy and extends no mercy. It comes uninvited…and it stays…and stays…and stays.
Even as I write these words, I think of the elderly widow, who puts up a brave front, but she lives alone with only pictures of past friendships.
And there’s the young widow, for whom life looked so bright, until a sudden accident took her much loved husband from her. Now she has returned to her home-town in order to try and pick up the pieces and start a new life.
I think also of the 68-year-old lady who spent a busy life raising her children. "Then they were gone!" She said and went on to say, “I can clean my house in a very short time. Then I have nothing to do. But no one really needs me.”
And as I think about these people, it comes to my mind, that perhaps there is no agony more painful than the consuming anguish of LONELINESS.
The inmate in prison can tell you that, or the young serviceman guarding a checkpoint in Afghanistan. Or the person who has just buried a companion or loved one and goes to bed early surrounded by the mute memory of “what might have been.”
Friend, LONELINESS is a clever enemy who shows no partiality. It attacks the worker who after many faithful years of production, is seldom recognized for anything—except when he’s absent.
It strikes out at the CEO who has to be tough, has to keep things going through the many long hours of sacrifice. As he goes about his daily work, this person’s, phone rings constantly and there is an endless flow of traffic through his office. But he’s LONELY!
It also strikes the spiritual leader who spends his or her energy in church work. And, as one leader said, “I want to eat with the people I serve, laugh with them, and be one of them. Instead, we pass each other on Sunday and Wednesday. We speak—I am passionate about teaching and serving others! It is true that some people show appreciation, but others complain!” “It’s terribly LONELY at the top!”
To the unemployed, LONELINESS says, “No chance!” To the divorced it says, “No place!” To the bereaved it says, “No hope!” To the struggling it says, “No way!” And sometimes it even sneaks into the hospital and says to the sick person, “You’ve been forgotten. No one cares about you—not really!”
It is also true that periods of LONELINESS are not uncommon for those who believe in God.
In fact, the Scriptures provide a Who’s Who roster of the LONELY. It includes such greats as David, Jeremiah, Job, John the Baptist, and Moses. We could also imagine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was terribly LONELY as she awaited the birth of her precious Son. And on top of that, people whispered about her condition.
Paul Tournier tells the story of a Swiss woman who lived in a large apartment house and worked in a shop with many people. Every evening she tuned in to the “Sign Off” of her local radio station just to hear a voice say, “We wish you a very pleasant good night.”
She imagined that voice speaking to just her and she hungered for a personal greeting, even though she was surrounded by hundreds of voices each day.
Friend, as you read what I am sharing with you today, let me ask you a question. Are you LONELY? If your answer to that question is YES, then I want you to know that Jesus understands how you feel. Because that is exactly the way He felt as He hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
In fact, in the strangling grip of the cross Jesus experienced the maximum impact of LONELINESS!
When you stop to think about this, it means that Jesus is able to sympathize with you and me, and to go into the battle with us, when we have to fight the giant of LONELINESS. He doesn’t need you or me to explain how we are feeling—He already knows and He cares. He only needs an invitation to share your wounds and help you heal.
More than anything else, when you are feeling LONELY, you need an understanding friend. And Jesus is the one—perhaps the only one—who can really understand our most intimate and immediate needs.
In fact, He truly is the one person chosen by God to give us A REASON TO LIVE. And all we need do in order to avoid the trap of LONELINESS and discover an everlasting FRIENDSHIP, is to reach out and trust in Jesus, because He will never fail to be our best friend!
Dear friend, if you would like to experience the joy of having a real FRIEND who will unconditionally stand by you to help you combat the LONELINESS in YOUR life. A FRIEND who can make every burden bearable, we invite you to write to us for our FREE booklet titled “Attacking the agony of LONELINESS."
Along with the above booklet, we will also send you “THE LONELINESS PLAN” which provides eight suggestions to help you avoid the three traps of LONELINESS.
To receive your FREE copies, simply mail your request to Discovering A Better Life, P.O. Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331.
If you prefer, you can telephone us on: (08) 98-41-8418.
Our Email address is: abl-alb@omninet.net.au
Perhaps you would like more words of encouragement to help manage your LONELINESS? If so, we invite you to visit our web-Blog site at:
However, before I conclude my message for today, I’d like you to listen to the words of Landon Saunders, (who is a very dear friend of mine), as he speaks about the fact “Friendship is the Highest Relationship” that we human beings can embrace.
For many years Landon has been a wonderful mentor to myself in regard to my personal relationship with Jesus, as well as being a great motivator in my ministry for Jesus Christ.
Landon’s loving, compassionate, and practical approach to sharing the importance of a genuine personal relationship with Jesus, as well as others we meet on our life’s journey, has been a wonderful example of how men and women should live in this dark and broken world.
(To hear Landon’s message, please click on the link below)
“Friendship is the Highest Relationship”
Friend, thank you for taking the time to read today’s message. I look forward to sharing another life-changing message with you tomorrow. But until then, may God richly bless you with all your needs.
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P.O. Box 1540, Albany, Western Australia 6331
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