Loneliness

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March 27

Thursday, March 27th, 2025

A person simply cannot live without hope. If you take away hope, you take away a reason to go on. 

Recently I have gorged myself on Leadership books, particularly those by Jon Gordon, Patrick Lencioni and James Hunter. I have one by Simon Sinek sitting in my stack to read next. But earlier this week, I had reached my fill and thought to myself that I needed something else to read to eventually renew my focus on leadership. So I began to go book by book in my library to see what either struck my eye or maybe one I needed to read again for a refresher course. My eyes stopped at a book by the late J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom called Never Beyond Hope. It was published in 2000 and it is hard telling how long I have had it. I have an original hardback so I think it is safe to say a long time. When I opened it to glance through it I realized I had no markings in it, which means I have never read it. So with Resurrection Sunday on its way and the hope that springs eternal from that day, I decided to give it a try. The subtitle of the book is How God Touches and Uses Imperfect People.  I thought that certainly sounded like me so it appeared to be a good choice. 🙂

Packer writes the following in his Introduction: “While there’s life there’s hope, we say, but the deeper truth is that only while there’s hope is there life.”  Read that slowly again. I once heard it said, “”A man can live three days without water, 40 days without food, but only five minutes without hope.”  In other words, take away hope and a person has nothing to live for. Hope springs eternal is what we are told. Well, what happens when hope is lost?  I believe that is exactly one of the reasons why the suicide rate is climbing higher with each passing day.  Take away hope and all that is left is a mere existence, often characterized by painful memories, unmet expectations, and unrealized dreams. And, of course, when those are the thoughts the next question is, “What do I have to live for?” 

My heart aches and breaks for people who have come to the end of their rope and see no way out. I wish they could see there is hope and there is a way out. Even though their situation looks impossible and unavoidable and desperate, there is ONE who has open arms and a big shoulder. He is the same one who said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).

Please keep your eyes open today (and everyday) for those who are hurting, for those who seem to have it all together on the outside, but inside they are a weeping mess. You just may be the person who brings someone back from the brink, and along with you, can give praise to the ONE who gives life meaning and hope.

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February 13

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

On my mind this morning when I woke up; when I rode my bike on my inside trainer; as I took a shower and dressed; and now as I sit and read my Bible at the table is a task-something I will do today…

I will attend a visitation and funeral of the friend of one of our new young ladies in the church.

She drank herself to death. That is harsh to say, I know, but even though only 30, her body said, “Enough.” It came to that point of her liver and kidneys failing due to alcohol abuse and past cancer treatments.

She is not alone. It is almost like an epidemic. People who lose hope. More specifically, young people who have lost hope. I guess we expect it more from an older person who can say, “I’ve lived my life. It is time for me to go.” But a young person? That cuts. Losing hope knows no age limits. It knows no status (Hollywood stars for example). It knows no financial acumen (the rich or the poor).

When did people lose hope? Please don’t fall back on COVID, although I am convinced it may have exacerbated it. Isolation. Loneliness. But I ask again: when did people lost hope? When did they lose sight of what David wrote: “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”? (Ps. 139:17-18). Maybe a better question is, “Did they ever know they were valuable to God?”

There seems to be no doubt that we are living in a hopeless generation and it is tragic that so many are living in such despair that they either want to end it all, give up, or in the case like this just simply say, “What’s the use?” and stop fighting for life. If we could only get back to what David wrote earlier in Psalm 139: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (verses 7-10). Those aren’t words of lament, of complaining about God’s presence. They are words of triumph. Of joy. Of hope.

Something there is just too little of these days. But something offered to us by the One who gave and gives us life.

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October 19

Thursday, October 19th, 2023

It seems incredible to me, and maybe to you as well, that on a planet of millions of people, in this world of school, work, sports, church, organizations, family, friends and a whole host of other options, there are people where one emotion would describe their world.

LONELINESS

Singer, Roy Orbison (probably before your time) captured that emotion in a song he called “Only the Lonely.” A couple of the lines were “Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight…Only the lonely know the heartaches I’ve been through.” That song resonated with a lot of people.

The soft rock group, America (again, probably before your time), sang, “This is for all the lonely people/Thinking that life has passed them by/Don’t give up ’til you drink from the silver cup/And ride that highway to the sky.” Yeah…like many of America’s lyrics I’m not totally sure what that is saying except, “Don’t quit. Don’t give up. There is someone who cares.”

Dan Peek, the writer of that song, once said that even though he had achieved success, he had cut ties with his family and friends, and was in fact, lonely.

Tragic isn’t it? One has the world by its proverbial tail and still has nothing. One can have it all; one can have nothing; and still be lonely.

Jesus spent 3 1/2 years with many lonely people. But He didn’t leave them lonely. The woman scorned by so many, bankrupt because of a blood issue, took one last grasp to the hem of Jesus’ garment and was made whole. The man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5 who was abandoned and had no one to help get him into the water found his health and purpose when Jesus reached out to Him and said he was healed. The outcast leper (multiple times) whom Jesus touched and healed and gave life and hope back to him.

Maybe you. I want you to know you are not alone. I don’t know your situation, and you possibly don’t know me. I want you to know that if you reach out to me, I’ll listen. I’ll listen because I have Jesus in me and He doesn’t want you lonely.

Oh…and by the way: Dan Peek changed his tune. Before He passed away in 2011, he came to know Jesus and left America because he tired of the emptiness of the sex and drugs lifestyle. He found the solution to being lonely. You can too. It is not in stuff or pursuits. It is a Person. His name is Jesus.

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