“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”
Psalm 25:16
I sat on the porch trying to console Jennifer, a twenty-three-year-old woman with cerebral palsy. Earlier in the day a few volunteers at our Family Retreat tried to send her to the “children’s group.” With her girlish grin and short blonde hair, Jennifer looked ten years old. Feeling sullen and discouraged, she cried, “Joni, I don’t have any friends. I’m so lonely.”
I couldn’t imagine the gut-wrenching emptiness Jennifer was feeling. When it comes to loneliness, though, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'” (Hebrews 13:5). That’s a promise from the lips of Jesus himself. He is especially near to Jennifer for Psalm 10:17 assures her, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.” After our talk, Jennifer and I bowed our heads in prayer and asked God to fill her void.
Three weeks later, Jennifer was enlisted in a volunteer position at a local center for children with cerebral palsy. It was her job, as she told me later with a proud smile, to go from crib to crib, pick up the little ones in diapers, and “just love on them all!” Jennifer found the answer to her prayer and her loneliness. It was others with cerebral palsy.
First Kings 22:5 says, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” We feel we must have the love of others to fill the void in our hearts. God says that as we cultivate an intimacy with Him, we will not only realize we’re never alone, but we will see we can reach out to others more in need. Nothing fills the void quite like getting the focus off you, onto God, then on someone else in greater distress.
May my soul find rest in God alone; for my hope comes from Him. You alone are my rock and my salvation. Help me to point others to You today.
