I will always feel alone. Things will never change. God has abandoned me. No one loves me.

Have you ever had similar thoughts cross your mind? Maybe they don’t only cross your mind, but you really believe them to be true. Your circumstance seems to reinforce these beliefs daily.

During the holidays, we enter into a season that should be marked with joy and gladness, yet for many of us, it feels like pouring salt into the open wound of loneliness. These times can serve as a reminder of loss, broken promises, or abandonment. It often seems easier to escape than to allow yourself to feel hurt and sadness. We end up attempting to mask or numb the pain. However, while that may get you through the holiday season, the pain and heartache will remain long after.

Loneliness is common to all and nearly inescapable. You may fall victim to moments of loneliness through no fault of your own or when your circumstances thrust you into them. However, loneliness can also be the result of sin causing separation from God and others. As a follower of Christ, you may even experience loneliness for being an obedient disciple and forsaking the ways of the world.

Thankfully, the book of Psalms is filled with honest, raw emotion and it teaches us ways to handle loneliness and heartache.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me. (Psalm 13)

In Psalm 13 we see the author openly conveying his heart to the Lord and even questioning God. He’s completely honest about his feelings and doubts. After pouring out his thoughts to the Lord, he prays that God would answer him and rescue him. The psalmist then moves to expressing his faith in the Lord and praising Him for the salvation of his soul and for His goodness.

When loneliness occurs, rather than seeking to escape reality or fill the void, we should instead seek aloneness in the presence of the Lord. We must cry out to Him just as the psalmist did. Ask God to search our hearts and the reveal sin in our lives. Even though joy feels absent, we can still thank God for who He is.

God, who is well acquainted with grief, sees and knows your heartache. He longs to fill the void in your heart. He has promised He will never leave us, He goes before us, and He will not fail us. He is the one who will meet all of our needs according to His glorious riches and satisfy us with good things.

Joy has come and is available to all who would receive Him.

- Johnna S.