Loneliness And Isolation: Two Maladies Of Our Time

Perhaps we have brought them upon ourselves by putting success and the acquisition of things above relationships with our family and friends.

Part of the blame may also have to do with the garage door opener: With it we can zip into our “fortress” without facing the neighbors!

We could also point the finger at T.V. and air conditioning: Both serve to isolate us in that box we call “home.”

Henry Ford may also share some of the blame: With the automobile came urbanization and the loss of community. Who today, for example, stands around at the post office jawing over the height of the summer corn or how the local baseball team is faring?

Jesus Christ, having gone to the cross alone, knows all about loneliness and isolation.

And if you are His serious follower, you also are no stranger to loneliness and isolation as you walk the near-vacant, thinning path of the pilgrim.

As Christ’s pilgrim, you can identify with the cry of the Psalmist, “I lie awake. I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.“(Psalm 102:7)

How then are we to deal with these twin maladies of loneliness and isolation? Well, we can either view them as conditions that are debilitating and paralyzing, or we can choose to allow God to use them as influences that drive us toward intimacy with the Lord Jesus. Often, it is in our anguished loneliness and isolation that we find true spiritual depth in God. Can we cry out with William T. Sleeper:

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I comeInto Thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus I comeOut of my sickness into Thy health, out of my want and into Thy wealth. Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus I come to Thee… “

Jesus reassures us amidst our loneliness and isolation:

I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you).! [Assuredly not!]“(Hebrews 13:5b – Amplified)

Leave a comment