Why does loneliness hurt so badly?
- Being misunderstood
- Falsely accused
- Abandoned
- Lie on
- Cheated on
Because it can make us feel completely and utterly ALONE
Lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. ~ 2023 DHHS.GOV
More recent estimates, based on synthesizing data across 148 studies, with an
average of 7.5 years of follow-up, suggest that social connection increases the
odds of survival by 50%.
This series is all about looking at the BIG STORY of the Bible
Chapter 1:
The Story You Live In Matters
Chapter 2:
God’s purpose will always win in the end
Chapter 3:
God is a God of Covenants, and He keeps them
Chapter 4:
Grace + Mercy = Salvation
Today:
God wants to be close
- To you
- In a relationship with you
Why is this important?
Adam = Created to be in a relationship with God
Genesis 3
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Resulting in…
Genesis 3
23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
This is why it’s important to understand that…
Sin Separates
- Us from God
- Us from one another
Loneliness is a result of Sin
Most alone when:
- People hurt us
- When we hurt other people
This separation in the story of the Bible
- Pain
- Brokenness
- Loneliness
Then God tells Isaiah what is to come…
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. (God With Us)
Jesus is LITERALLY God with us
Our God Is NOT:
- Distant
- Unattached
- Uninterested
- Unconcerned
About your worries, troubles, or cares
Christianity is NOT a long-distance relationship
- God wants to be close
Matthew 11:29-30
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Loneliness is HARD WORK
- Separation is TOIL
- A Burden
You are made to KNOW and BE KNOWN
Galatians 4:8-9
8 But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. 9 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?
1: Knowing God – A Personal Relationship
Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 “‘This is what the Lord says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth. 24 But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me— that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration.
To know God is NOT KNOWING ABOUT God
- A personal relationship is the goal
This is why you are created
- To know God
2: Being Known
God TRULY knows you
Psalm 139
1 Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. 5 You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. 6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.[c][d] Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.
17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! 18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.
If you are not in a personal relationship with God, then you never get to experience His presence
- You will ALWAYS feel ALONE
- He’s the only one who truly knows us
Daring to Draw Near:
1:The Invitation: Salvation + Sanctification
Salvation – The invitation into the Life of Christ
Sanctification – The invitation into the LIFESTYLE of Christ
1 Thessalonians 4
3 For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, 4 that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. 6 This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. 7 For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. 8 Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
SIN SEPARATES
- The root of our loneliness
2: The Challenge: Getting over yourself
Luke 9:22-24
23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after[a] me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.
The more things are about you, the less they can be about anyone else
Loneliness has an expiration date
- We can be known by God
Because he wants to be close to us