Are you lonesome tonight?

Loneliness is difficult to admit and even harder to overcome.  Admitting no one has time for you or wants your company can force you to drum up a great deal of humility.  However, a simple conversation with another person can be the prescription to alleviate that lonely feeling.

Inviting a friend to lunch or dinner is a great way to break up that time alone.  But when the answer is “no” for some reason or another, then it is not just loneliness.  It is also having to accept rejection…and even more humility is needed.  I am sure this is a cross everyone bears from time to time.  It is those who carry that cross, who need Jesus to take them by the hand and walk with Him in the form of a friend.

It’s okay to ask for help

Don’t get me wrong…. even as busy as I am with work or other activities in my life, loneliness is still something I experience.  Loneliness can find its way into the evenings and especially the holidays.  Those are times when I need Jesus and others to be there for me.

Sometimes I pray to Jesus to ask Him to help others to know my need for a telephone call or an invitation to dinner or lunch.  I’m typically one that believes if it is meant to be that I spend time with others, it will happen.  I don’t like forcing something to happen.  I never want my loneliness to be someone else’s burden.  Rather, I pray the ‘Face of Jesus’ will come my way in the form of a friend.

It’s easy to say you’re never lonely if you have Jesus by your side.  And I know He is!!  However, practicality kicks in.  That conversation with Jesus is a bit one-sided.  So, those who are lonely, in many ways, rely on the kindness of others to break up those lonely times.  Others who have their lives filled with activities, work, or people who care about them, generally may not understand loneliness. 

What it was like for Jesus

If we think about it, as Jesus was growing up, he had to have spent a very lonely life.  It is hard for me to imagine.  Spending 33 years being “Jesus” is hard to comprehend.  Just how many friends did he have? Jesus, living his life without sin, is impossible to understand.  And the final time He had to experience loneliness was on the cross as He was waiting to die.  How heartbreaking it had to be for Him while on the cross as he said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

At times, my loneliness is like carrying the cross Jesus carried.  There are times when it is so heavy, I wonder if I can continue to carry it.  And there are times when I think of loneliness as a form of penance for some sin I’ve committed.  I am blessed, that, from time to time, Jesus sends me that telephone call which puts a smile on my face and brings a happy tear to my eye, and I am reminded I am not alone.

He’s got my back

I know I have friends who do care about me.  They help me allay the loneliness.  Clearly, most people enjoy some time alone or private them to just be at peace.  But when those times are more often than not, it can bring on a sadness which is difficult to deal with. When this happens, I go where I know I have at least one friend.  My Church can be an inspiring place for me.  I feel like after talking to Jesus, my loneliness is somewhat tempered.  And more than once, he has sent me a call from a friend or a whisper in my ear which lessens that lonely feeling.   

Are you lonesome tonight?  Don’t worry.  Look over your shoulder.  Jesus is there keeping you company.