I find it interesting that God decided that it isn’t good for man to be alone. He wasn’t alone, of course, but he didn’t have a suitable partner. Still, why is alone a bad thing? Could there be a reason that Adam felt alone, after all, the other creatures He created either weren’t alone or didn’t mind? I enjoy the solitude of a quiet walk or some nice reading time too, but it doesn’t seem like I belong here sometimes. Like I don’t fit in this picture.
I would like to suggest that people were made to feel alone intentionally. It seems to be a universal condition in our world today, we don’t like feeling alone, yet most would say they are. The irony is that we all go through periods of loneliness, regardless of how many people are around us. Think of the sins that are committed to avoid loneliness. Credit card sins, homosexual sins, cheating sins, lying sins, coveting and more than we ought to be able to think of in a sitting. So if sinning is the perceived cure for loneliness, why did God put that in us?
It doesn’t seem that anywhere in the Bible or society that any man could produce the cure for loneliness. It isn’t for the lack of trying, read Ecclesiastes written by King Solomon some time. The King denied himself nothing and was left wanting. Chasing after the wind he said. He had everything we could dream of at his disposal and in the end, nothing outside of God would satisfy him. Perhaps that is the key. We know that we don’t belong here and there is something more for us. Loneliness is like a homing device that doesn’t let us be satisfied with where we are and we know there is satisfaction somewhere, a greater purpose, we just need to seek it out. Christians know that the Bible is the word of God and is therefore the “treasure map” to the Savior. If we follow what it says we get warmer,and if we follow sin, the path gets colder. While we may make some pretty bad errors along the path, Jesus forgives missteps, but not trying at all seems to really aggravate Him. If we aren’t trying, we aren’t teachable. If we think we have found a different way, it always ends badly. Stick to the map!
Without that feeling of loneliness, we wouldn’t know that there is more out there. We would be complacent to not seek God at all. Yet we all know that something is missing from our lives even though we cant always put our finger on it. It can be quite unsettling. While I don’t like feeling out of place, I’ve learned that if I read Gods word and study about what He’s trying to say to me, I feel like I fit the purpose that I was made for. Not perfectly, but enough to know that I’m headed in the right direction.
I still don’t like that odd,nobody understands, sort of lonely, but if I understand that the longing is Him calling me towards home, I guess I’m pretty thankful for it. I think God really knew what He was doing and I am humbly grateful that He cared enough to give this humble shoeshine boy a desire for more than the world has to offer. I don’t belong here friends, and neither do you. Lets head for home!
humbleshoeshineboy 