Matthew 28:20 "Surely I am with you always."
The irony of a big city is that many people can feel all alone. They can rub elbows with large crowds and see hundreds of faces each day, yet their spirit cries out in pain.
Loneliness is not limited to any age. Young people can feel inadequate or unwanted. Older folks can dread the isolation of their apartment or nursing home. In all the in-between years this empty feeling in the spirit can leave its mark.
There are several sides to aloneness. Solitude expresses the glory of being alone. It is the voluntary isolation of the student, the artist, and the solitary fisherman. To be alone with one's thoughts can be a welcome change of pace. Loneliness, on the other hand, is a painful aloneness. It can be caused by conflicts between people, by separation, by death, or by a change of community.
In one sense, we are always alone. Before God we stand by ourselves. Faith or lack of faith is an individual matter between us and the Lord. On the other hand, we are never alone when we are with God by faith. He is the companion who understands, shares, and supports. Nothing can separate us from Him and His love.
PRAYER: Lord, help me be a friend to the lonely. Let me share Your unfailing love with those whose spirit cries. Amen.
(Taken from "Words of Promise," copyright 1996, Concordia Publishing House (out of print). For information on other devotional materials, call 1-800-325-3040.)
Today's Bible Readings: Song 6-8 Acts 7:22-43
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