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AVOIDING the TRAPS of LONELINESS
Updated: Feb 17
Today’s Message of Encouragement from Discovering A BETTER LIFE MINISTRIES
(Stories of: Real People, Real Events, Real Places)
Because they provide
Spiritual FOOD FOR THOUGHT
To Encourage Men and Women to find PEACE and HOPE
By entering a transformational relationship
with Jesus Christ.
(John 10:10; 14:1-6; Acts 2:36-47; Galatians 3:26-29)
AVOIDING the TRAPS
of
LONELINESS!
Friend, when we stop 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 companionships!
Then, 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 hometown 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, after they were gone. She said, “I can clean my house in a very short time. Then I have nothing to do. But no one needs me now!”
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 the Ukraine. 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 or she is absent. It strikes out at the CEO who must be tough and keep things going through the many long hours of sacrifice. As he or she goes about their daily work, this person’s, phone rings constantly and there is an endless flow of traffic through his or her office. But they are LONELY!
It also strikes the spiritual leader who spends his or her energy on 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! Some people indeed show appreciation, but others complain!” “It’s 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. The Scriptures provide a Who’s Who roster of the LONELY. It includes such greats as David, Jeremiah, Job, John the Baptist, Moses, and even Jesus, as He hung on the cross of Calvary, as "He cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).
Friend, we could also imagine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was 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 remind you again, 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 anguished cry of Jesus, it means that Jesus can sympathize with you and me, and to go into the battle with us, when we must 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. Jesus is the one!—perhaps the only one—who can understand our most intimate and immediate needs. He truly is the one person chosen by God to give us A REASON TO LIVE. And all we need to do 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!
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 this booklet, we will also send you “THE LONELINESS PLAN,” written by Landon Saunders. This pamphlet 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, 175 Smuts Road, Kendenup, Albany Western Australia 6323 Or email us at: abl-alb@omninet.net.au
However, before I conclude this message today, I’d like you to listen to the words of Landon Saunders, (a very dear friend of mine), as he speaks about the fact that “Friendship is the Highest Relationship human beings can embrace.”
For many years Landon Saunders has been a wonderful mentor to me, regarding my 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 with others we meet on our life’s journey, is a wonderful example of how Christians should live in this dark and broken world.
To listen to the words of Landon Saunders on:
"Friendship is the Highest Relationship"
Please click on the link below
“We are all travellers in the wilderness
of this world, and the best we can
find in our travels is an honest friend.”
Robert Louis Stevenson, (1850-1894)
Dear valued friend, please feel free to share our Discovering A BETTER LIFE Messages of Encouragement and Hope with a friend, a Loved one or a co-worker.
With warm regards and deep gratitude for your friendship,
Your Friend,
Ron Bainbridge
Editor of:
Unit 49/2 Plantation Street, Menora, Western Australia 6050
To hear and View this Video Please click on the Link below
"STILL THE GOD WHO PARTS THE SEA"
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