Christian LonelinessEsimerkki

Day 7: Loneliness with the World, Breeds Intimacy with God In all of their various life situations and challenges, what is one thing that David, Samson, Daniel, Joseph, and Elijah (all the people we’ve studied so far) have in common? They all had relationships with God that were strengthened through periods and seasons of loneliness. Without question God uses times in our lives where we are isolated from others to draw us closer to Him. Jesus serves as the best example when He was preparing to officially begin His earthly ministry. After being baptized, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days and nights. No friends, no disciples, no family. It was just Jesus, the wild animals, and the great outdoors. At the end of the 40 days he was hungry. The devil saw this as the perfect opportunity to tempt Him since He would be physically and mentally vulnerable. Jesus resisted the devil’s temptations on three occasions. Each time He quoted scripture to counter Satan’s lies and twisting of the truth. The devil finally gave up and angels attended to Jesus. Although Jesus was mentally exhausted and physically weak from being outdoors with no food for 40 days, spiritually He was strong. That’s how He was able to overcome. The Bible does not tell us what Jesus did during those 40 days of fasting, but knowing how He lived and what He taught, I don’t believe it’s hard to figure out. I'm guessing those 40 days were filled with Jesus talking to God. Telling Him everything He’d been experiencing and how He longed to be united with Him again. He probably spent many hours telling God about the beautiful people He had made, despite their flaws, and how He was going to lead them to salvation so they could all be united with God. I wish I could hear Him singing songs of praise and worship to the Father. I bet He spent a lot time doing that or simply sitting quietly before the Lord and basking in His presence. Jesus used loneliness as an opportunity to know God more and so should we. Many times we hate being alone. But if we are wise we will take advantage of the benefits. Being alone means fewer distractions. Being alone means we can focus on God. We don’t have to fear being alone, because for the believer we are never truly alone since God will never leave us or forsake us. Ask God to show you. He’s there. Think about or write down some ways you can take advantage of your type of loneliness to draw near to God.