For When You Are Lonely [5 Minute Friday]
I can be surrounded by people and feel so alone. Ironically, I often feel the most alive while hiking and hanging outdoors with only animals and trees for company.
Perhaps this is because all other creatures live how they were created to live. They don’t pretend, imagine, or deceive.
We humans are God’s only creation who can be someone we were not created to be.
Yet, it’s in living out our true identity that we feel connected—with one another and with our Creator.
It seems there’s an epidemic of loneliness in this world. People surrounded by people but feeling disconnected and isolated.
Maybe we should learn a lesson from the critters in the forest or the birds in the air:
Live the life you were created to live and find the connections you long for—at least with the One who really counts.
We humans are God's only creation who can be someone we were not created to be. Yet, it's in living out our true identity that we feel connected—with one another and with our Creator. Share on X
Reflections: When do you feel the loneliest? Do you feel lonely even when around others? Why do you think that is?
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
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Linking with Lisa-Jo where a crowd writes uninhibited for 5 minutes (or a few more) on a given topic. It is a wonderful exercise in letting the words flow. Click the button to check out more posts or consider linking up yourself. Today’s topic is “Lonely.”
By His Grace,
Julie
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Hello, I'm Julie, an imperfect wife and mother of four. Life in this broken world is not always easy. Yet, joy can be found in each day through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find it's easy for our day's blessings to get lost in its happenings. But God's "mercies never end" (Lamentations 3:22) and His "grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
May the posts and pages on this site offer you a measure of peace and encouragement.
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I love that you focus on the idea of feeling lonely in the midst of a crowd. I wrote about that same idea because I feel like that’s when I struggle with loneliness the most. Crowds lead to comparison and comparison leads to isolation. Well written, Julie.
Exactly, Sarah. Too bad we fall into that trap.
Lovely post, and so true. Have a blessed day!
Thanks, Ashley! Blessings to you.
Beautiful. Simple and to the point! I love the picture. Is that “Chip” or “Dale?”
Thanks, Marisa. I think it’s Chip. Although I have seen plenty of Dales too. 🙂
You have some good thoughts here. Loneliness is a reaction to being alone. A friend lost her husband a few years ago. She told me once she felt alone but she didn’t feel lonely.
Thanks, Cecelia. When we are in a right relationship with the Lord, we should never feel lonely–at least it shouldn’t last when we finally decide to turn to Him.
Great five minute post, Julie.
Yes to this: “It seems there’s an epidemic of loneliness in this world. People surrounded by people but feeling disconnected and isolated.” I think (for me, at least) that’s a lot to do with feeling distracted and forgetting to live in the NOW rather than the future to-do list or the already-done past.
And yes to this, about the other creatures: “They don’t pretend, imagine, or deceive.”
One of the (several) positives of being a mom of a child with special needs is that I see I just don’t have time for the “junk” so many people feel like they have to put on or use to be “socially acceptable” (myself included). It’s a blessing and an incentive to see if I can live openly and still lovingly while cutting through the junk. (Does that make sense?)
It makes perfect sense to me, Caroline, as I too don’t have time for the “junk.” God blessed me so greatly with Rachel–helped me to learn that living an authentic life of love, gratitude, and purpose is the only way to really live. When it all meshes together, there is no loneliness because I am walking hand in hand with the Lord.