LONELINESS
Definition: Sadness resulting from a feeling of being alone; of lacking friends or companionship.
1. Once we have Jesus in our hearts, we always have His company and love.
Deuteronomy 31:6b For the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Isaiah 44:21b Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.
Isaiah 54:10a For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee.
Jeremiah 31:3b I [the Lord] have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Matthew 28:20b Lo, I [Jesus] am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
John 14:18 I [Jesus] will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 16:32 [Jesus said:] Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
Romans 8:38,39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 4:16,17a At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 17a Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.
Hebrews 13:5b I [the Lord] will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
[See also Insecurity]
2. Though earthly companionships may fail, the Lord never fails.
Psalm 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
Psalm 73:25,26 Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire [more than] beside Thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalm 142:4,5 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5 I cried unto Thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
Proverbs 18:24b There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Isaiah 49:15,16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.
Isaiah 66:13a As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I [the Lord] comfort you.
John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. [See also Isaiah 51:12a; John 14:16]
2 Thessalonians 2:16,17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
3. Sometimes the Lord lets us feel lonely to drive us closer to Him.
Psalm 38:11,15 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. … 15 In Thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
Psalm 63:1, 5-7 O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, … 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches. 7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.
Psalm 73:25,26,28a Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. … 28a It is good for me to draw near to God.
Psalm 84:10a For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.
Song of Solomon 3:3,4a The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye Him Whom my soul loveth? 4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him Whom my soul loveth: I held Him, and would not let Him go.
Isaiah 26:9a With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
Colossians 2:10a And ye are complete in Him.
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things Above, not on things on the earth.
4. Even Jesus felt and feels lonely and forsaken at times.
Isaiah 53:3,4,6b,12b He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4 Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. … 6b The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. … 12b He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Matthew 26:56b [He was abandoned by His closest followers that night in the garden of Gethsemane:] Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled.
Matthew 27:46 [Jesus suffered the ultimate loneliness, experiencing separation from God and death, in order to save us:] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? [See Psalm 22]
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
5. Making an effort and taking the initiative to reach out to others and be a friend, is an antidote for loneliness.
Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
Job 6:14a To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend.
1 Samuel 23:16 [Fellowship with others can be strengthening] And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
Proverbs 18:24a A man that hath friends [or desires friends] must shew himself friendly.
Proverbs 27:10b Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
1 Corinthians 10:13a [We all feel lonely at some time or other] There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.
Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
1 Thessalonians 3:12a And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
6. Winning souls and reaching the lost even helps you overcome personal loneliness.
Psalm 126:5,6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Matthew 5:15-16 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Romans 10:14,15 How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
7. If you show a real love for others, you won’t have a hard time winning friends.
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.
2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Colossians 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. [See also 4:8]
1 Corinthians 13:8a Charity [Love] never faileth.
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