November 20, 2014

Running to the Refuge {Day 20}: Refuge in Loneliness

This is day 20 in a month-long series.  Catch up on previous posts here.

Wow, look at that!  Day 20 already!  As in previous years, I'm enjoying this November tradition of writing daily about a topic.  I am praying for you, that God is meeting you with His presence and through His Word.  Thank you for being here to learn with me.

On with the show here, then!  How about we talk a little about loneliness?  Is is not perplexing how we can be connected to so many people with all of the modern means of communications, yet we can feel so totally alone?  Been there lately?



I believe a big part of the issue is that, despite the communication and the contact, connection is lacking.  Deep in our hearts, no matter how hard they may be, we all want to be known.  We feel alone when we feel unknown.

If you find yourself in that unknown, alone place, I have good news for you!  No matter how unknown and alone you feel, you are known and you are not alone.  If anything has been strengthening my faith from this study, it is a broader view of how complete a refuge God is because of how richly, deeply, tenderly, and abundantly He loves me.  Loves you.  Loves all who trust Him.

You feel lonely, but praise God - you are not alone!


In one of David's rescue-me-from-my-enemies Psalms (142) he says:
I look to my right and see:
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.

Then immediately He says,
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living."

I love how David talks to God.  He is honest with Him and He trusts Him.  There were probably people concerned for David's life, but when you're alone in a cave hiding from a dishonored king who wants to kill you, I suppose it can be easy to feel utterly abandoned!  But David is in the habit of communicating with Almighty God and knows His connection to Him.  So he pours out His heart to the Lord.

God is our portion in the land of the living!

Are you feeling like David?  Does it feel like no one cares for your life?  Oh, my dear friend, God does.  I think about Jesus walking this earth on His mission to save His people from their sins.  I can only imagine how many times loneliness must have crept in.  Lord, no one understands me; I am so alone.  But you are here with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.  Our Savior understands loneliness and is accessible to us at all times.  Run to the Refuge!

David's words here also remind me of the blessing times of helplessness and loneliness can be.  He looks around him and concludes, I have no refuge!  Times of desperation remind us that all earthly things will pass away.  Seeking refuge in temporal amusements or solutions is futile; times of loneliness remind us we need more than the things and people around us.  We need the Lord.   I cry to you, O Lord; I say, You are my refuge.  On earth below and heaven above, God is our matchless refuge.  Run to the Refuge!

You are loved.  You are known.  You are not alone.
Run to the refuge, stat!


Running Orders!
  • Are you feeling lonely today and/or do you remember times of intense loneliness?  Copy David's prayer and talk it out with the Lord and/or spend time praising Him for how He has met you in loneliness in the past.
  • Read Psalm 23 and write down what God speaks to you through those words.


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