Jesus Experienced Loneliness, Too!

Hello, and thank you for visiting The Coffeehouse Bible Ministry blog! We hope that you find our postings spiritually beneficial and instructive. It's always been our most sincere purpose that we adhere to 2 Peter 3:18 in all of our endeavors. We strongly believe that when all is said and done, to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" is manifest in everything we do.   ~Eve

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."   -Mother Teresa

To walk the street of any major city in the world and to look in the faces of those you meet, is to be impressed with look of loneliness that fills people's eyes even while they are in the middle of a crowd. Do you have periods of extreme loneliness when you are forsaken, cut off, abandoned, isolated, and very alone? The desire of belonging, and the assurance of acceptance are basic human needs.

You might be thinking, "why do we have a problem with loneliness?" There are many reasons why; too many to address in this brief forum, but we can submit several for the purpose of discussion today. We can experience loneliness because we are lost in the crowd. Just being in the midst of people does not guarantee that we won't be lonely.We can experience loneliness when we feel that we are misunderstood by family members or the circle of people whose acceptance is important to us.

We can feel lonely because of mistreatment at the hands of someone else. This is a perennial problem because we are always subject to mistreatment by others. We can experience loneliness as a result of frustration in our work or in relationships that are important to us. We can experience loneliness because of weariness of body and mind. The body and mind must have rest from the burdens and stresses of life. We can experience loneliness because of a position of leadership. Bearing the weight of responsibility or standing at the top of an organization can be a very lonely position.

We can experience loneliness because of physical or emotional suffering. Pain can be so intense that i can cause us to feel we are alone in the depths of our agony. We can feel lonely because of a negative and critical attitude toward self. This is one of the major contributing causes to a feeling of loneliness. Many of us developed a negative way of thinking early in life and have never been able to replace our negative thoughts with a positive mental attitude. And the list goes on...

Would you be surprised to know that Jesus suffered the agony of feeling lonely? Because he has experienced the pain of loneliness, we are assured that he is able to sympathize with us and to help us with this painful problem (Hebrews 2:17-18). Jesus who suffered in all ways can provide us with a pattern for dealing with life's painful problems. It wouldn't be presumptuous to think that on many different occasions Jesus must have experienced the pain of loneliness.

How do we know? The Bible tells us that: Jesus was misunderstood by the members of his own family (Matthew 12:46-50). Jesus was misunderstood and rejected by the people of his own city (Luke 4:24-30). Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve intimate friends. In a time of great stress when Jesus needed the prayer support of his most intimate friends, they went to sleep leaving him alone in his agony (Luke 22:45-46). When Jesus was seized by wicked men, all of his apostles forsook him though one did follow from a distance.

Knowing even the little that we have discussed here, there can be no question concerning the agony of Jesus' loneliness as he bore the burden of human guilt and condemnation. Jesus had taken on himself the sin and guilt of a rebellious creation and was dying under the penalty of human sin; our sin. Indeed, Jesus felt himself to be utterly forsaken. There is no more agony than Jesus experienced as he died to redeem us from the awful penalty of sin. He suffered the wrath of a  Holy God against the malignancy of evil.

So what can we do to solve the problem of loneliness? Dear friends, we need to admit that we cannot make ourselves totally immune from loneliness. It is a problem with which we will have to deal with as time goes by, and the example of Jesus provides us with a pattern to follow. Jesus responded to the problem of loneliness by crying out to God in his time of need. First, and foremost, when we feel lonely we should look to the Lord for grace, guidance, and help. It's not the will of our Father God that any of us experience the painful agony of loneliness.

Developing a positive mental attitude based on faith in God will help us greatly in overcoming loneliness. Accepting the humanity of others so as not to be knocked off balance by their misunderstanding or by mistreatment can help us overcome loneliness. Getting plenty of rest and following good health habits will go a long way toward helping us overcome loneliness. Also, we aren't so apt to be lonely if we define our reason for being in terms of living or giving rather than getting

To conclude today's message, let the Lord Jesus become your Savior if this is the great need of your life. If you have already trusted him as your Savior, the trust in his promise to be with you at all times and under all circumstances. He has promised, "I will never fail you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5)

Scripture: Isaiah 41:10; 1 Peter 5:7; Joshua 1:5; Matthew 28:20; Deuteronomy 31:6; 1 John 4:13; James 4:7; Psalm 62:5; Philippians 4:6-7; John 14:18; Proverbs 18:24; Psalm 23:4

Prayer: God our Father, you call each of us by name, and you treasure each of us individually as though no-one else exists. Inspire us to respect and value each person who comes into our lives this day. Amen

May God bless you always,

~Eve