Alone Again

Alone Again

Do you ever get tired of feeling alone or lonely? Some crave more alone time than others, but people are by nature relational and suffer when it is not available. Mother Teresa once said, “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It’s the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted – of being deserted and alone.” There are many ways available for loneliness to creep into our lives.
One of the great figures of the Old Testament is Elijah. God used him in mighty ways, but Elijah was just as frail and human as you and I, and suffered from loneliness, too. Elijah was bold to stand up to those who meant to do God’s people harm. So much so that someone threatened his life promising that he would be dead within 24hrs (spoiler alert: he wasn’t). But Elijah was convinced and ran for his life into the wilderness to hide. Alone, discouraged, and feeling sorry for himself, he told God, “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
God had other plans for Elijah. He told Elijah to get up and eat (God even provided the food) and sent him on a forty-day journey where God wanted to speak with him on a mountain top. Elijah listened, ate, and headed out.
By the time Elijah arrived on the mountaintop, he seemed to be discouraged once again. God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” from Elijah’s point of view, he had been faithful to God, but God’s people hadn’t. Elijah wanted to blame them and just let God have His way with them. The Bible records it this way:
“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper [from God].” God told Elijah that his mission was not yet done; God had work for him to do. He also corrected Elijah’s claim that he was the only person alive that was still faithful to God (there were 7,000 more). This whole account is captured in 1 King 19:1-18.

Think about what Elijah was feeling during this time. Name his emotions. How did he explain the root cause of his loneliness? Have you ever misplaced blame for unpleasant things you have experienced? I have. Instead of blame, what options do you have available?
What was God’s response to Elijah? God pointed out to Elijah that He takes care of him, protects him, guides him, and has a mission for him. God has the same for you and I. We’re not here aimlessly, we’re here intentionally.

One of the greatest verses in this account is, “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper (verse 12).” After the intensity of the wind, earthquake and fire, the gentle whisper of God captured Elijah’s’ attention. God can come to us in big and powerful ways, and sometimes He does. More often, however, He communicates in a gentle, compassionate way through His Word (the Bible) or through the people He places in our lives.
We don’t need to be loud and attention-getting to communicate the love of God to others. By our actions, compassion, and love, our gentle whisper of God’s promises comes across and are appreciated, effective and clear.
Sometimes to combat our own loneliness requires our willingness to reach out to others through conversation, activity, or shared interests. You can be certain there are people all around you that are craving a little human interaction as well.