The Cure For Loneliness
He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. – John 14:21; 23.
Ann Landers said this about the many letters she received. “I’ve learned plenty-including, most meaningfully, what Leo Rosten had in mind when he said, ’Each of us is a little lonely, deep inside, and cries to be understood.’ I have learned how it is with stumbling, tortured people in this world who have nobody to talk to. The fact the column has been a success underscores, for me at least, the central tragedy of our society, the disconnectedness, the insecurity, the fear that bedevils, cripples and paralyzes so many of us. I have learned that financial success, academic achievement, and social or political status open no doors to peace of mind or inner security. We are all wanderers, like sheep, on this planet.” (Saturday Review)
Nearly everyone at some point in their lives will feel lonely. What do you do if you are lonely? Where do you turn? There is a cure for loneliness, but it is not an easy cure. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” The key to escape from loneliness is found in dying to yourself. The cross is an instrument of execution, and we see that dying is to be a daily dying to self. In order to die to self, we must deny ourselves, and follow our Lord each day. In the process, we lose our life, but gain the life that our Lord has planned for us.
As we die to self, and seek to follow our Lord, what happens? What happens is “My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:21).” “We will come to him and make Our home with him (John 14:23).” As we lose our life, in the life of our Lord, we will find life and fellowship with Him. Our loneliness will disappear as we follow Him step by step through each day.
(As we lose our life, in the life of our Lord, we will find life and fellowship with Him.)