Friday, May 10, 2024

Have you ever felt lonely?

Whether it’s being stuck at home on a weekend while everyone else is out having fun together or it’s sitting by yourself in a crowded room, it feels taboo to admit when you feel like an outsider.

But you’re far from alone in this experience—42% of adults in the U.S. struggle with loneliness.

We don’t need to feel embarrassed by it, and it doesn’t mean we’re unlikable or terrible with people. Loneliness is a biological indicator that something needs to change, just like hunger or thirst signals when we need to eat or drink. At its core, loneliness is a discrepancy between our expectations for our relationships and what we perceive them to actually be like.

When left unaddressed, studies show that loneliness can lead to physical and mental health issues like poor sleep, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Beyond that, it can cause spiritual issues, such as vulnerability to harmful behavior patterns and the enemy’s lies.

This isn’t just a modern issue—the Bible addresses loneliness in the very first book, Genesis. As God creates the world, he keeps pronouncing everything as “good.” What’s the first thing he says is not good? Loneliness.

Genesis 2:18
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

Clearly, this topic is important in our spiritual lives. But here’s the elephant in the room: it’s daunting to confront our loneliness. The common advice of “put yourself out there” doesn’t provide much practical help, and it’s hard to know where to start.

Cultivating the meaningful connections we crave feels like tending a seed that never sprouts—we till the soil, water, weed, and stare at the same bare patch of dirt week after week, month after month.

Jesus uses the illustration of seeds in his Parable of the Soils, and we can use it as a template for combating loneliness. Over the next two weeks, we’ll see how the path, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil are all obstacles we face in our attempts to foster connection as well as the solutions to overcome them.

Will you join us?

This article was written by Sarah Pagel, Programming Intern and regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.

Note: A version of this article was first published on TheRebelution.com.