“If we lose the house. . .then Billy loses all sense of security and later, never have a relationship. . .so he’ll just spend his whole life just alone.

There he’ll be, just alone, nobody with him, just like a bum.”

   One of my kids’ favorite movies, “Fun with Dick and Jane” outlines an upper middle income suburban family who suffers the wave of events caused by a corporate implode and instant loss of income.  My kids like it because it makes us laugh even when we ourselves have suffered through that particular season of “alone” in losing everything.  Granted. . .my husband and I picked ourselves up, dusted off and started all over again without resulting to thievery.

We laugh at the scenes because we finally found a moment when someone, even if they were fictional, realized our past struggle.  Which was very real. . .very hard. . .and YES very, very lonely.

a   l   o   n   e

Being alone- isn’t that what we fear the most?  Being alone, lonely, excluded, set apart, rejected, misunderstood, disliked, invisible.

Why? God said from the beginning in Genesis that is was not good for man to be alone.  He Himself sets the lonely within our hearts by creating us to be in constant search of . . .HIM.

So let’s just skip over the causes of lonely, the outcome and the struggle and hop right into being satisfied with the company of the one and only. . .the creator. . .our Lord and Savior. . .the Great I AM!

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.  The short version (and we all say. . .yay!).  Every single one of us will one day or another go through a season of ALONE.  A season where we are either all alone or have fallen into circumstances which set us apart from the average, the herd- so to speak.  Sometimes this is by our own doing and sometimes God leads us beside those still waters just He and I.  Time alone. . .together.

God who whispers in my ear. . .”let’s take a walk. . .just you and I. . .for I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. . .YOU are my child.”

The question is. . .in those times. . .is God enough?  Is it satisfying to say, take the entire world, my belongings, my life Lord and give me just Jesus.  Well. . .is it?  For you and I most of the time the answer is a sobering NO.

The addict, the depressed, the OCD, the busy “I don’t even have time to sleep.” For those of us who are human- we fill the empty, the “alone” to fill the God given void that can only be filled by HIM.

“O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.  My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes- it also has gone from me.  My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off…But for you O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. ”

Psalm 38:9-11,15

I live in the country, have five homeschooling children and am in the process of adopting.  I guess you could say I stand in the season of Alone frequently.  I have found that I tend to grab my masonry tools and erect walls of solitude when I feel the world doesn’t see as I see, or understand what I’m going through.  Those are the moments I’m brought back to God who whispers in my ear. . .”let’s take a walk. . .just you and I. . .for I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. . .YOU are my child.”

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4

we can stand in the alone without being lonely.

The Valley of the shadow of death.  Yes, been there.  The sorrow over a failed adoption. . .yes.  The loss of a job. . .oh yeah.  The perils of family who doesn’t understand. . .um yep.  Disease, illness, loss, torn relationships. . .been there. . .done that. . .and yes, it felt alone.  But God. . .oh, yes. . .I’m throwing that back in all of our faces again and again.  But God!  Yes, we need relationships as God intended.  Yes, the Lord wants and gives the desires of our hearts.  But this broken world leaves us empty always wanting to fill and we can stand in the alone without being lonely.

Sometimes God sets you apart, or gives the season of alone to free you up to be with Him.  To seek His Face. . .to turn to Him and be filled with him and him alone.

When drifting in the bog of lonely or suffering a season of ALONE. . .cry out to the only one that can fill you.  The only one who understands what it is like to truly be alone and be forsaken.

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.  Let me dwell in your tent forever!  Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!  Selah

-Psalm 61:1-4