The New Loneliness Devotionalනියැදිය

Nowhere Else to Go

When you grow up learning about Jesus from the time you’re young, or if you’ve walked with Him for a while, you can get complacent and put your life on cruise control and fail to acknowledge His presence, direction, wisdom, guidance, and love every moment of your day. Faith can easily become a compartment that is added to the many elements of your life instead of becoming your whole life.

A Call to Set Our Minds Above

The apostle Paul opened chapter 3 of his letter to the Colossians with instructions for followers if they are truly His:

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (verses 1-4).

Living Like Christ Is Your Life

If you have been raised with Christ. This appears to be an if/then situation. If we are His, and we have truly been transformed by His death and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are to keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is. That means we are to keep our minds on our eternal home, have eternal priorities and values, and live as if we are here temporarily and we will soon be in our real home with the Lover of our soul. The passage goes on to say we have died, and our lives are hidden with Christ in God. (Our lives, our rights, our sense of entitlement, our preferences have died with Christ, and we [our original natures] are hidden and He [and His character—Galatians 5:22-23] is evident and on display for the world to see.) Then the next line in the passage simply assumes that Christ is not merely a part of our life, but is our life.

When we consider Him—not a boyfriend, husband, child, or even a job—as our whole life, we safeguard ourselves from misplaced priorities and frequent disappointment.

The Truth About Disappointment

People will always disappoint us. But Jesus never will.

A friend once told me to lower my expectations of others, or I would always be disappointed. While that advice seemed callous at the time, today I know it to be true. Others mean well, but they will always disappoint us in one way or another. Only when our expectations are with the Lord will we find He is fully reliable. And if we feel disappointed in God, we are apparently believing something about Him that isn’t true.

God is the only one who will never disappoint us. I know you’ve heard that too. And like me, you believe it in your heart of hearts, but life still hurts. Being vulnerable enough to tell a loved one what you need from them and then coming up empty because they have no idea how to respond can leave you feeling sore to the core.

Depend on Him First

So where do you and I go with that? Our answer must be the same as Peter’s: “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to!” (John 6:68 CEV).

I have learned to echo Peter’s words by making Psalm 73:25-26 my life’s motto, as well as the cry of my heart:

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever (ESV).

Where do you go when others disappoint? Be already depending on Him, and the disappointments will come less often. What do you do when you begin to lack contentment? Remember who is your life and that in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). Where do you turn when you feel directionless or lacking in purpose? To the One who is your life, your compass, your purpose.

Lord, may You be the object of my heart, my focus, my direction, my life. You gave up Your life so I could belong to You forever. I give You my life and desires and realize I have nowhere else to go—but to You.