I’m Lonely, But No One Can Tell
It has been said that most people lead lives of quiet desperation. The statement is both telling and sad. And true. All around are people in despair- afraid or unwilling to share their pain. With good reason. It doesn’t take much living to understand that most folks don’t care (even if they say they do), or that soul-baring rarely does much good. On top of that, no one wants to be fodder for idle talk. So, we keep it in. All the pain, disappointment and broken dreams, and it hurts.
Many times, the slightest attempt at transparency is met with derision. People use your faults against you, and that’s a fact. The thing we need from others the most is the thing we get the least. I have come to believe that a lot of these judgmental folks are covering up. We ought not take ourselves too seriously, but we also ought not take others too seriously. People need to be careful. It really is true that “there is no one righteous.” Not even one.
We learn to protect ourselves. So it is that we bear pain and carry weights unknown to others. If my burdens are unknown, perhaps they will cease to exist. I recently heard of a young teenager that committed suicide. What a weight that young person must have been bearing! What despair must have filled his soul. And so young. That’s the problem with having great internalized conflict. It’s a death sentence for hope, joy and, maybe, even life itself.
The Bible offers us an answer to despair and the loneliness it fosters. “Confess your sins to each other.” Why? That’s exactly what we want to avoid doing for the sake of self-preservation. I don’t want everyone to know all about me. The reason is so that we can pray for each other. When this is done, healing follows. Healing for you and healing for me. Because we are all hurting and all fighting battles known only to ourselves. Prayer is therapeutic- and effective. It helps those who give and those who receive.
When we have no release for our thoughts and feelings, we become isolated from others and more easily victimized by Satan. We’re away from the pack- more vulnerable. “Two are better than one.” That’s why God urges us to bind together, even over difficulty. But that takes common consent and common concern, and those things are in short supply. It will be a day of relief and refreshing when Christ-followers understand and apply biblical answers to the common problems of life. May it come to you in your time.
Sterl
« Go back