Loneliness is a prevalent condition today. Strange that it should be so at this point in history, though. With the highest technologies in communications, we are in touch with people on the other side of the world in a snap!! We’re connected by texts, face-time, skype, email, social media and telecons. The need for travel is lessening as we can have group meetings, webinars, and even classrooms all online. But if we need to travel, we can easily get in a car, a bus, a plane, a train, or a boat and get there in record times, right? So why is loneliness such a problem?
In previous eras, because they had no convenient means of transportation, people lived and died within twenty miles of the place they were born. Their relationships were restricted to their families, and local friends and neighbors. However, the entire world is open to us. So why are we still so lonely?
Sometimes, even in our society, even with our technology, even with our ease in transportation, we know more people but truly connect with fewer of them. Why is that? Some people now work from home, so their work relationships are online. Some people live in their apartments or houses and sit at their computers for hours. They don’t have that many friends they can actually do things with, but their online relationships have become their circle of friends.
It’s easy, even with all these conveniences, to fall into patterns of isolation like never before. And isolation can lead to fewer true connections between friends. We don’t even have to venture out of our homes for groceries now that we can place our order and have them delivered, or we can conveniently pick them up without having to leave our cars.
No wonder people are increasingly lonely, depressed and isolated. Those of us who are blessed with a good church and rich fellowship have social advantages others may not. But Christians are not exempt from loneliness. Sometimes people feel more alone in a crowd than they do sitting at home in solitude. And then there’s the loneliness that occurs when we lose someone we love. They leave holes in our hearts that no one else can fill.
So what are we to do about all of this? How can we find meaningful connections with people? How can we engage in a way that alleviates our sense of loneliness, depression and isolation? How can we start to live again instead of merely existing?
The first baby step may be reading a little 59-page booklet on this subject. Am I saying that my new book, Help! I’m So Lonely, is the answer to this monumental problem? By no means. But I know it can take your hand and help you make your first tremulous steps out of loneliness, depression and isolation. It provides concrete, practical suggestions to help move you towards a fuller life again. But as helpful as that advice may be, it’s nothing compared to the truths that God’s word has to offer us about this heart-breaking condition. So yes, this little booklet taps the tip of the iceberg of scriptural insights that may be just what your heart needs to hear when you’re emotionally drowning in isolation and loneliness. Won’t you take that first step with me?
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