loneliness

I have had several conversations lately with friends and family where the topic of loneliness seems to come up. It has inspired me to really take a deeper look at my own life and the loneliness I have felt throughout. In the conversations I had I realized that just because you're married or have a group of 10+ best friends or even the closest relationships with your family you aren't exempt from feeling loneliness. We as humans have such a strong desire for relationships, we desire a companion in our life at all times and when that need isn't being fulfilled we begin to feel lonely.

God knew what he was doing when he gave us that desire! He made us to want to have a companion to talk to, get support and advice from and love us. He also wants us to realize that we as humans will always fall short of the perfect companion or relationship. He gives us amazing people in our lives but as amazing and wonderful those people may be, there will be times in our lives when we feel completely alone! This can be a great thing if we can learn to take advantage of it. This loneliness gives us the opportunity to reconnect with our Father who has that same desire to have a relationship with us. We go through stages (or seasons as I've heard someone say) and loneliness is just one of those seasons. I find in my own personal life that sometimes it takes a day of a little self pity and insecurity for me to realize the relationships I keep seeking here in this life are never going to be enough for me. I'm sure some of you have had this figured out for a while, I just seem to have to remind myself of this constantly. If I would put as much time and effort in my relationship with God as I do trying to please and pursue people in my life I know the other relationships would begin to become more fulfilling instead of causing lonely days and insecurities of myself as a friend and partner. My relationship with Him should be the focus where in the past I have focused on those who have a relationship with Him. I'm still in awe when I think about how God created us out of His own desire to have a relationship with us.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

My husband and I went through a long period of extreme loneliness after we had our daughter. This was such a hard time for us to be going through so much at our ages and to have no friends to share that with. Our families have always been there for us and I am thankful for the blessing they are on our lives but they couldn't fill the void we felt. During such a lonely season in our lives we found a church that was full of people who desired relationships with us, pursued us and made us feel like we were family. Our lives changed in such a huge way because God fulfilled our desires for something more. The best part was we found a new friend in God. We came back every week filled with hope and a desire for more out of our relationship with God. I have to say I am so thankful for that time in our life! I still have many lonely days but when I do, I try to remind myself that in my loneliest hour He was there for me and came through in such a huge way by satisfying our biggest need during that season and He will continue to do that for me through a personal relationship with Him every day.
Psalm 68:6 God places the lonely in families.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.