Feeling alone

“life. And you need that and I need that because we're never more vulnerable than when we are isolated. That's why Peter wrote in First Peter 5 and verse 8, "Be sober minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Have you ever watched a documentary on lions? Who do the lions go after? They go after the isolated. They go after the vulnerable. They go after the weak. And I'm telling you, when you are lonely, you are prime”

“and it's that disconnectedness that so often becomes something that causes us to become very self-depreciating and causes us to feel the isolation. David, I mentioned him earlier in the Psalms said it this way in Psalm 102 verse 6, I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake. I am like a lonely sparrow on a housetop. I'm like that one”

“it's because of what Christ has done that we can have a relationship with God and that we can know that we are never, never, never alone. So I don't know what you're facing today, but I want you to know there's one, one who is with you and one who loves you. You may today be feeling forgotten, ignored, misunderstood, overwhelmed, but I'm here to tell you today, feel lonely, but you're never alone.”

“your loving kindness has welcomed me. Though I'm unworthy of majesty, you wrap the lonely in royalty. and I will lay my crowns down at your feet.”

“and you guys may do it here. I'm not absolutely sure how this translates campus to campus. But we have a group of deacons who every Wednesday night take some of the meals that we prepare on the Augusta campus and take them to shut-ins in our community every week all over the county and I just love the fact that they go and knock on the door and they become a friendly face and a gift that can be given and we do this in a lot of different ways it doesn't just have to be that but I'm saying that to say if you know somebody who's lonely look for a care point and meet a”

“all of these things can happen to us so what did paul do what do we need to do when we're lonely number one you need to connect with god's church i'm not talking about the building i'm not talking about programs I'm not talking about activities who is the church we are the church so when I say connect with God's church I'm talking about people we need to connect with God's people”

“Thanksgiving, and I've lived through all these things I'm telling you, and I'm laying in a hospital bed knowing that I'm not going home for Thanksgiving and trying to figure out what in the world is going on in my life. And I have to be honest, there have been many times, but I really felt alone. And I will never forget 4 a.m. sitting there contemplating all that was happening. God, What are you doing in my life? Lord, why have you forsaken me?”

“everywhere I'm seeing everywhere around me over and over this message. We are living in a lonely world. People are lonely. People are desperate. And loneliness is one of the defining struggles of our generation. Reports have shown that as many as one in five Americans experiences loneliness on a daily basis. The US Surgeon General two years ago reported that half of US adults are experiencing measurable loneliness and chronic social isolation.”

“mind. It's a way in which you begin to think differently. I'm inclined to go this direction. I'm inclined to make this decision. And the Bible tells us in the book of Psalms, 86 verse 11, teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your faithfulness. Incline my heart to hear your name. You may feel very alone and your imagination is running wild, but God wants you to be inclined”

“wrong with you, with all that's wrong with others, with all the suspicions, and your mind just runs away. One of the greatest imaginations that comes when you're lonely is the whisper of Satan's voice saying, "If you feel alone, you are alone." But I'm here to tell you today, if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and God as your heavenly father, you are never alone.”

“The US Surgeon General two years ago reported that half of U.S. adults are experiencing measurable loneliness and chronic social isolation. And with it, there is the associated experience of all sorts of increased risk of depression and anxiety and cardiovascular disease and dementia and even premature death. In fact, the Surgeon General went so far as to say that some loneliness chronically can be the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day on your health. And then I'm reading”

“when life is bringing disappointment, When future is unsure, we struggle with those issues that can lead to loneliness. But now let's go to the last question, and the one that I'm most eager to get us to, and that is, what should I do when I feel lonely? What should I do when I feel lonely? It's not a sin to feel lonely. Loneliness comes and happens to us, but what should I do? And here's something great. While the Bible is an incredible book of precepts, literal instructions, standards,”

“It comes to anyone, anytime, anywhere. loneliness. It's the second thing that causes loneliness and it's not only life circumstances but changing seasons. I'm talking about the actual seasons of life. How many seasons of the year do we have? Four great opportunities to get lonely. Did you know that? Right now we're turning the page from summer back into school structure and schedules and all of that and some of you are”

“When you're lonely, you're tempted to let your imagination run away. With all that's wrong with you, with all that's wrong with others, with all the suspicions and your mind just runs away. One of the greatest imaginations that comes when you're lonely is the whisper of Satan's voice saying, if you feel alone, you are alone. But I'm here to tell you today, if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior”

“that the less sunlight I get, the unhappier I get. And so I need a lot of sunlight. That's something I love in my life. But I'm just saying, literally going through the changing of seasons of life, the holidays, all the things, the anniversaries, all those things can create loneliness in our lives. And then personal disappointments and relational conflicts. I mean, what did Paul talk about here? He talked about Demas. He talked about Alexander. He talked about people who had been with him and people who had left him.”

“than many sparrows. God sees, God knows, God cares about you. You're not some sparrow on a housetop. You're someone that the father loves. And I'm just here today to echo that and to remind you that maybe right now while you're struggling with the battle of loneliness, That there is a Lord who loves, who cares, who sees, and who will meet you in your life.”

“And I turned on the TV and boom, there was Adrian Rogers at four o'clock in the morning, my childhood pastor preaching. And it was like God sent my pastor to make a hospital visit at four o'clock in the morning. That wasn't a coincidence. That was God saying, hey, I got you. I got this. I'm here. And sometimes we just need to know that he is there and that he is near. And that is in those moments that no, life is not easy and the adversity of loneliness”

“loneliness. It's the second thing that causes loneliness. And it's not only life circumstances, but changing seasons. I'm talking about the actual seasons of life. How many seasons of the year do we have? Four great opportunities to get lonely. Did you know that? Right now, we're turning the page from summer back into school structure and schedules and all of that. And some of you are already feeling that lonely sense of I've got to let go of all this freedom and this lack of structure. And there's a sense of I wish we could have done more. I wish I”

“we're talking about. What is loneliness? What is loneliness? Well, let me quickly say that loneliness is more than being alone. Loneliness is not simply solitude. Solitude is something that we all need in our lives. In fact, we try to encourage every person who's a part of the life in the church known as Warren to start their day every day with a time alone with God. We all need time to be alone, to read, to reflect, to pray. And so, solitude in and of itself is not loneliness.”

“But let me just say a few things that will help us to understand what loneliness is. Loneliness is more than just being alone. It's not just being alone or being by yourself. You can be alone in the state of your body, but loneliness is a state of mind and of heart. Actually, being alone is a good thing. We all need to have some time alone. We all need to have places and moments of solitude. Solitude is a spiritual discipline that every Christian needs to cultivate.”

“alone. It's not just being alone or being by yourself. You can be alone in the state of your body, but loneliness is a state of mind and of heart. Actually being alone is a good thing. We all need to have some time alone. We all need to have places and moments of solitude. Solitude is a spiritual discipline that every Christian needs to cultivate. Jesus was frequently alone when he would go out and pray early in the morning or late at night. And we”

“connected generation in history it's incredible you could right now while we're sitting here and I'm speaking to you you could actually be chatting with somebody in South Africa or in England or somewhere in Asia it's amazing what you can do through technology but that technology is not turning into community and in fact one of the saddest realities is this that technology promises the comfort of connection but without the demands of accountability or the reward”

“You can be in solitude, you can be alone, and not be lonely. So, loneliness is not solitude. Something else that I want you to know is that loneliness is not a sin. It is a real, it is a raw human emotion. But just because you're lonely does not mean that you are in sin, but let me quickly say that loneliness and the vulnerability that it brings invites”

“I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel all alone. That's what loneliness does. It takes us to a place where there's brokenness and the reality of brokenness in our lives. And the isolating impact of that can lead to experiences of loneliness in life and then loneliness is a painful reminder it's a painful reminder that we were made to be”

“is that every day, somewhere in the day, you need to have a time alone with God. A quiet time. And being in solitude is not the same thing as being lonely. You can be alone and not be lonely. And all of us need to learn what it means to take time, to develop time, to reflect, to read, to listen, to spend time with God. And so solitude is an important part of a spiritual discipline,”