There are moments into every life when the world seems to pass us by and we are left to eat the bread of loneliness. The rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the palace dweller and the shack dweller, all have at some point felt the piercing pang that comes from being unnoticed, unneeded and even unwanted. Perhaps that pain is more poignant when we realize that our friends have found us to be expendable at times. That while they march along, some of us sit behind a closed door crying out, wishing that someone would notice us and understand where we are.
There are times in our lives that no cry can find the solace and strength needed to endure a thing, without some kind of friendship or companion to help bare what we must bear, in order to get to the other side of it. Upon asking his friends in the garden one evening to stay awake and pray with him, Jesus’ disciples fell asleep. Why? Because they did not feel what Jesus was feeling at the time. They did not have an urgency in their heart to pray, because they had not been sipping from the cup of loneliness that Jesus had been sipping from. So it was easy for them to fall asleep, when their conscience had not been bothered, nor burdened. Believe me, Jesus understood the loneliness of barren relationships that are great on the surface, but when trial and storms come, many will disappear into the horizon. For Him to be sympathetic to us when we are lonely, He had to experience His own brokenness …alone!
For the child of God, there does not have to be long bouts of sadness and loneliness. For we are freed from those emotions through the power of the redeeming cross. What we must do however, is learn how to manage our sufferings in the shadow of the cross. Sheltered under the protection by the power that is ours, for not just claiming it, but by running to it. That shelter we must learn, is the Rock of Ages, and we must learn to hide in the clefts of that rock.
Perhaps few people know better what it means to stand within the shelter of a rock, than those that defended the Island of Malta against the Germans in 1941. From the safe haven of their man made rock-built cavern, the men watched day after day unharmed as confusion and chaos swirled around them. Outside the rock cover, death would surely consume them, yet inside under the rock, no danger could befall them. They put their trust in the rock that sheltered them from harm’s way.
The rock to which the Christian flees when all around them is sinking sand, is the shelter of God’s reassuring voice that says, “Fear not, for I am with thee always, be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee and uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10) Jesus said in John 10:9, that if any man be in Him, He would go in and out and find pasture. You and I must find that pasture for ourselves. We must find out for ourselves and learn to walk in the truth of what He shows us and not be tossed around by doubt and worry. Then can we sing with the Saints of old, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee!
Loneliness comes in different forms and through many avenues. But no matter the method or reason that it comes, we have a higher ground to run to and there we can find the comfort, love and support that we need to sustain us and remind us of our worth, value and finally, motivate us to not settle for loneliness and pity. But to remind us of who we are in Christ and remember…. that alone is enough!
Loving on you today,
Bren
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