Loneliness

https://odb.org/MY/2023/06/28/when-youre-lonely

It is inevitable that we will experience loneliness one day. For example, if we outlive our spouse. This is especially real as it is getting more common nowadays for the husband to pass away first as more women outlive men. The spouse who is left behind will thus be lonely and some for a considerable time. Of course, we may have children, but then they have their own lives to live. Surely, we can not rely on them for companionship until we grow old. In fact, there are single parents staying together with a single adult child who ended up outliving their adult child in the case of the grey-haired sending off the dark-haired.

There are also those who chose to remain single when younger for various reasons – perhaps the right person never came along. Or some just wanted to play the field and didn’t want to settle down. Some may be called to singlehood or just prefer to remain single. Or some were married before but, sadly, their marriage ended up in divorce. The clear advantage of being single is that there is no need to share anything with someone else. We make all decisions ourselves. The clear disadvantage and reality is that without a spouse or children, we will grow old alone and will likely lead a lonely life.

As Christians, how do we deal with loneliness? We could immerse ourselves in work when younger or get more involved in ministry or missions. We could stay in a home with single male or female believers and thus serve God together and have fellowship among the brethren. Once retired, we could live in a community of retired folks – senior communities are getting more popular, even in Malaysia.

Of course, the best and probably the most obvious way to deal with loneliness is to develop a closer relationship with God Himself, with Jesus Christ. Psalm 23 then becomes very real to us. He is our shepherd, and He will lead us to clear and safe waters and bring us to pastures for our nourishment. Even if He were to bring us through valleys of shadow of death, we will fear no evil for His rod and staff comfort me (protect me). We may live in the shadow of His wings. After all, how long more will we be here on this earth after we have retired if we are single or if married, after our spouse has passed on? 30 or 40 years more? What is eternity compared to that? In the new heaven and new earth, we will be reunited with those who love God. In the meantime, serve God with all our heart, all our mind, and all of our soul! Make Him our main, if not our sole pursuit, and we will find that loneliness will slowly but surely tinker away – fade away in the horizon into a thing of the past. We will get to see our loved ones again on the day of Jesus Christ! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!