The Loneliness of the Christian

“I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.” – Psalm 102:7

Like me, even in the midst of frenetic activity, busy with life, do you often find yourself fighting a sense of loneliness? Can you identify with the psalmist and feel the solitude of a lonely bird perched high on a rooftop, calling for others of his kind, yet getting no response? There are very real causes of self-imposed isolation and loneliness including trauma, emotional distress, and chemical imbalances. If these aren’t the root cause of your loneliness, then perhaps you’ve developed a taste for the “sweetness” of the Divine, a “thirst” for the purity of the Word. This hunger and thirst will most assuredly pull you away from the comfort of the pack. It will draw you out and away from “worldly” pursuits and woo you into intimacy with God.

Initially, the decision to walk away from the world and seek Him is a lonely walk. Friends will question you. They’ll even abandon you. The things you once consumed now nauseate you. In the pain of your isolation you may even question your decision. But once you’ve truly “tasted” of the LORD, you can’t be satisfied with anything else.

Why? Because we’re made for God. In Isaiah 43:21, God says, “The people whom I formed for Myself, will make known My praise.” You see, we can only be complete, truly satisfied in Him. Once we discover that God has made us for Himself, our whole perspective on life changes. God alone has the answers for every longing in our hearts. We’ll begin to evaluate everything through His eyes. We’ll see what He sees. We’ll feel what He feels. His heart and our hearts begin a rhythmic, unified beat.

A separation has begun. We all must make a choice. You can’t love both the world and Jesus. At the fork in the road most are choosing the wide, well-trodden path of worldly pursuits and “comfortable Christianity.” We wear the loneliness on our faces as we embark on the other fork in the road seeking the narrow way of righteousness. We consecrate ourselves to Him as those around us continue to seek fame, position, power, and riches with a voracious appetite. Sadly, they’ll eat but never be satisfied. The world’s “sugar high” will leave them empty. As they slowly die, we’ll continue to blossom. Though we did nothing wrong, they’ll hates us for the choices they made, reinforcing our feelings of loneliness. If this is you, take heart. Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

God is always looking for people who are hungry for Him. Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
Isaiah 55:1-2 says, “…everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Though the path can be a lonely one, relish your newfound intimacy with our Creator.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” says God in Jeremiah 29:13-14.
Fellowship with the LORD and your loneliness will dissipate. Blaze a trail and others will follow. For His glory.

LORD, grant us a greater hunger and thirst for You!