As I listen...

Loneliness.

Have you ever felt alone?

I have.

I've sat on my bed in the dark, feeling alone, and stared out my window up at the stars. There is one star that always draws my attention. It's probably a planet because it's so bright. * shrugs * ....I'll just pretend it's a star. I'm no astrologer who actually cares anyways.

I'm pretty sure a lot of people have felt alone. I hear my friends say they have. So I assume most of the world gets that way sometimes. Those times are the toughest. The loneliness just eats away at your heart and you squeeze your eyes shut and pray and pray and wish and wish that it would just go away and never come back.

You know, it doesn't have to come back.
I've recently realized that it's up to us whether it comes back or whether it goes away.

One night, I thought to myself, "Why do I even let it come? Why do I allow myself to feel like that?"

And guess what I figured out?

THERE IS NO REASON.

There is no reason, whatsoEVER to feel lonely.
In fact, you have every reason to embrace the beautiful truth that you are NEVER alone. Never alone. Not ever. I know that seems crazy on that dark night, in the deafening silence,when the wind shakes the house, and when you feel like breaking. But it's true. And it's amazing.

"But somewhere in the quietness, when I'm overcome with loneliness, I hear you call my name. 

And like a father, you are near. And as I listen, I can hear you say,

'You are a child of mine. Born of my own design.

And you bear the heart of life. 

No matter where you go, oh, you will always know,

You have been made free in Christ. 

You are a child of mine.'"

God the Father is with you on those hard nights. He wraps his strong arms around you and never lets you go. Even when you don't feel it or struggle in hearing Him, He's there. Always there. He loves you. So much. He loves every single thing about you and He will never leave you. 

"For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

[[Romans 8:38-39]] 

If that doesn't give you hope and confidence, I don't know what does. When I read that for the first time, I just smiled and smiled. No one in the whole world has THAT kind of love for every single one of us. And when all seems lost, when all those you love seem so far away and gone, when you're stuck in a rut of loneliness, take His hand and He will pull you out. And if you trust in Him and His strength and love, you won't have to worry about falling back into that rut. 

NOW. STAND UP. Sing a song. Dance in the rain. Drink hot chocolate. Smile. Be happy. Because there is no longer any reason to feel alone. 

And it is a beautiful thing.