Have you ever been in a dark place where you felt all alone? When you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel? When your thoughts, feelings, experiences, people, God, and yourself all feel like the enemy? Maybe you lost all hope of getting out of this or getting better.
Maybe you lost your edge. Maybe you lost your health. Maybe your pain took over. Maybe your loneliness created despair. Maybe your grief became unbearable. Maybe you lost someone or something that you didn’t think you would ever lose. Maybe even your addictions stopped bringing you relief.
As I have felt the terrible pain of people who have been abandoned, or feel abandoned, my reflex is to pray and to find a way to connect so that people don’t feel alone. Instead of “just praying,” I want to get close enough to help alleviate their loneliness and despair. If it’s children who have been placed out of their homes, I play my way into their hearts until they feel safe enough to share their stories, express their pain, and find a connection of hope. But most of all, I want people to discover and experience the living presence of the Almighty God.
I want people to discover and experience their Creator who imaged them. The One who loves and doesn’t leave. The One who doesn’t go away when people do. The One who reaches out His arms in love to embrace us when we’re filled with contempt for God, people, or ourselves. He invites us to trust Him with all our hearts when we trust no one. He even loves us when our addictions are destroying everything and everyone around us. Even when no one “gets you,” God knows and loves every part of you because He’s your Father. His nature is to relentlessly pursue us, even when we have lost faith, when we don’t believe, or when we’re pushing Him away.
Because I’ve experienced it over and over again in my own life and have seen it in happen to so many others, sometimes the Holy Spirit orchestrates and engineers the stripping away of all our other “loves” until we rely on His love to satisfy our deepest longings. The trips from “head knowledge” to “heart knowing and experiencing” the love of Christ never feel good when you’re going through the dark tunnel or when you’re in the storms. But when you realize that what people intended for harm God brought you through to give you something even better, you will be melted and reshaped by His loving presence. And you will have a story you must tell.
The Apostle Paul got to the end of his life, and everyone had abandoned and deserted or opposed him except Luke. I thought doctors were the busiest people in all the world. Why was Dr. Luke able to be the hands and feet of Jesus when everyone else had left Paul? My gut tells me it’s because Luke was transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, so he couldn’t help but draw near to Paul when Paul was at the end of his life. Just as doctors are repeatedly facing the risks of losing their patients, Luke didn’t shy away from his dying friend who needed God’s comfort when he was feeling abandoned by all of his “church friends.”
If you’re feeling alone or abandoned, listen to these incredible words that Paul wrote to Timothy as he felt abandoned and as he was nearing his death. “But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength, that I might preach the Good News in all its fullness for all the Gentiles to hear. And he saved me from certain death. Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom.” (2 Timothy 4:17) Just because people and “the good life” feel gone or unattainable, let me encourage you to reach out your arms, your heart, and your spirit to the God whose arms are always open to you. You don’t have to fully believe or feel His love. I’m convinced of His loving presence that will never leave you, even when you’re going through unbearable pain, problems, or if you’re feeling alone or abandoned. If you will just exercise the faith that you do have, God will walk with you through the dark times and bring you into His light.
When do you feel alone?
Do you pull away from people when you need reassurance of God’s love?
Do you shy away from hurting people, or do you get closer to them?
What is God inviting you to do today?