My heart broke for her. It’s amazing how a text message can convey so much emotion. She and her boyfriend had broken up, and she needed a few days off to be able to move back in with her mom. Another text came the following day which said she was checking into a hospital.
I concluded my response with the acknowledgment she needed to remember she was a wonderful person…and, I would be praying for her to find rest and healing from God.
How quickly we can move from a bubbly, happy young person to a devastated, lonely soul. She reflects the state of our world right now—up and down, connected and alone.
Yet, in Christ, we are not alone in our loneliness. Even in the middle of the valley of shadows, we find no reason to fear. Elisabeth Elliot wrote:
Accept your loneliness. It is a stage, and only one stage on a journey that brings you to God. It will not always last. Offer up your loneliness to God, as the little boy offered to Jesus his five loaves and two fishes. God can transform it for the good of others.
Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity
I remember the sense of fear that tried to invade my heart after the death of my husband. My boys had gone back to college, and I was alone in my home. As night sounds invaded the silence, I wondered who would protect me now.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 NIV
In my loneliness, God came by my side with his rod and staff of comfort and protection. I gave up my fear and my loneliness to him, and he helped me press past the shadows toward the light.
The sense of loss and loneliness can be overwhelming, like it was for my young friend, but we have an opportunity to share from our stories of how Jesus takes our loneliness and turns it into something good. Ask God to take yours and transform it to his glory.
Grace and Peace