Where Is God In The Loneliness?
by Daniel Burton
Sadly, everyone will experience a time of loneliness. Friendships will become strained. Family will move. For me personally, these have been the times I have sought God the hardest. When everything around me seemed to disappear, I cried out for God asking where he is. Yet, whenever times have gotten difficult and I have felt alone in the world, I have sought to remind myself that God is still sovereign and I have people who love me. With those facts firmly established, I can make it through anything.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
– Matthew 18:19-20, NIV
Throughout the whole of the Bible, God has been abundantly clear that mankind was never meant to be alone. From the beginning of creation, when it was declared that it is not good for man to be alone (cf. Genesis 2:18) to the end of time when we will be united fully with the whole body of believers spanning time (cf. Revelation 7:9), unity and fellowship is vital for the life of the Christian. We need each other to live out and reveal the presence of God to ourselves and in the world. Through God, as the supreme example of unity, our loneliness fades knowing we are a part of a much larger family.
The Unity of the Trinity
To understand the extent we need one another, we need to look no further than to God Himself. God, in the fullness of the Trinity, embodies the idea of unity. The Trinity operates as one God in three forms. For many, the idea of the Trinity is near impossible to fully grasp and understand. We, as humans, think in terms of separate discrete entities. This, however is not the case for God. God operates in a Holy and other manner. He is one God in three persons. For however mysterious the Trinity is to comprehend, you cannot deny that it is first and foremost relational. In the way that each person of the Trinity relates to the others, we are likewise to relate to God and to other members of the body of Christ, unified by the sovereign love of God.
We are made in the image of God, finding our identity in Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit indwelling among us. The unity of the Trinity flows through our very being and DNA. Crux of our unity towards one another of the faith rests on the foundation of God in our lives. Just as the three persons operate as a singular whole, our need for one another is displayed through the Trinity. We need the love and connection to others much in the same way that the Trinity cannot be split into separate distinct entities. Amid the loneliness and searching for God, we can take heart that our connection to God is not broken merely because we cannot feel it. God is still present, calling us to strengthen our relationship with Him. He has promised to never leave us.
Gathering Together in His Name
It is by the grace of God that we have also been provided with a tangible expression of that love; each other. Whenever we feel the loneliness begin to settle in, we have our spiritual family to support us and reveal the presence of God to us. For the moments that our faith feels weakened and we feel alone, we can cry out to God. Yet we must remember to never cry out alone. As we gather together in the name of God, there is the presence of God. We go to each other lonely and pray with one another. We can open us our deepest wounds and pursue the healing grace that comes from God alone. As fellow believers, we support one another no matter what we may feel about each other. As believers, we are family, unified by the bond of Jesus Christ.
Where is God in our loneliness? He is with us all the same. He is in our coming together, in our praying together. God is in the times we share with those who also bear his image and are upheld in the identity of Jesus Christ. We can bring ourselves, faults and all, to pray with one another and hold one another up. Sometimes it will be us who will need to be upheld, other times, it will be us who needs to do the upholding. Yet, for however lonely we feel, however deep our questions run as to where God is, the family of God will always serve as a representation of the goodness of God to each other and to the world.
Discussion Questions
Read Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 12:15-26
- When do you most struggle with times of feeling loneliness, searching for God? What do you feel during these times?
- The Trinity is one of the most confusing doctrines to understand, however one of the most essential. What does the Trinity reveal to us about the nature of God?
- What role does each person of the Trinity play in God’s love for us?
- How does coming together in the name of God reveal the presence of God in our lives?
- What are the advantages of the support of a body of believers?
- How can we support one another in our faith together? What prevents us from doing this?
