I have a question, a verse, and a challenge for you.
First of all, the question: Do you know anyone who is lonely?
Take a minute and think about it. Do you know anyone who is single? A son or daughter estranged from their parents? A widow? Children whose parents can’t or won’t spend enough time with them? A wife whose husband is always working? A new mom? If you take just a moment and cycle through your circle of friends, family, and acquaintances, I’m sure you can think of someone.
There is no excuse for people being alone in the body of Christ. The responsibility lies, not with the one who is lonely, but those of us who are not. We are called to a community of fellowship. We are called to encourage one another, pray with one another, worship with one another, and most of all to love one another. If we are turning a blind eye to those who are lonely, we are ignoring our own brothers and sisters who need us.
Secondly, a verse:
Psalm 68:4-6s
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds—
his name is the Lord—
and rejoice before him.5A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
I really like the first line of verse six. “God sets the lonely in families.”
Thirdly, I want to give you a challenge. This is a challenge to myself, as well. We all know what it feels like to be lonely. It stinks. It’s no fun at all. It’s one of the quickest routes to depression. We aren’t meant to live life alone. So, my challenge…open up your home and your family to someone who needs you. Aren’t we told to be hospitable? Let’s take inventory of those around us, and see who needs us. Let’s allow God to set the lonely in our families. Instead of tsk tsk’ing when someone starts making bad choices…hanging out with the wrong friends, going to places they shouldn’t be going to, or getting into relationships that they shouldn’t…maybe we should ask ourselves what we could have done to help them avoid that path. Invite someone over for spaghetti. Let someone else in on your family game night. Take that kid whose parents work all the time to the ballgame with you. Do something. You don’t have to single handedly save everyone’s life and cheer everyone up, but you can do one thing for one person. If we all made a little extra effort…if we all decided to ignore the stained carpet and the dishes in the sink…if we put ourselves out there…we could make a difference in someone’s life. Let’s not be so absorbed in our own lives and wrapped up in enjoying our own happy families, that we don’t make the time to fulfill all of our calling. Let’s love our brothers and sisters.
She needed someone to pick on.
