Loneliness as a Blessing; Divine Awareness

Suffering as a Blessing
Loneliness as a Blessing Part One

The Blessing of Divine Awareness

Sometimes we experience so much company, so much social input, that we cannot see passed our own sensations and the thoughts of those who immediately are a part of our life. We can so easily forget there is a dying world out there. Just as much as the preceding, there can be a neglecting of the knowledge of the Holy. Life can so get to us that we forget that God is always there calling us. He is always there perfecting in us the work He started since before we were born.

When we are surrounding by people constantly, even people who may need a very real help, it is very easy to neglect our pursuit not only God’s way, but God’s very real, very present, Self. It is so sad that often in times of loneliness we do not choose to recognize the presence of our Lord. It is so sad that we can be stricken with such sorrow as to forget the promise of our Lord who has ever proven Himself faithful and true.

After harsh winds, an earthquake, and a fire Elijah heard God’s voice in the sound of a low whisper. So often people, particularly of charismatic persuasion, think that God is in large movements. Remember again the traits of the strange and forbidden woman. First she was loud and stubborn. The church is the bride of Christ. Is she being loud and stubborn? Is she drawing people in saying that she has prepared a place for them? Is she appealing to the carnal ways of man; even the desires displayed in the world’s toys and ways? Does praise seem strikingly similar to the expression of fleshly exuberance? Is her obedience the same in appearance and attitude as her obedience to her earthly masters?

Moses went up to the mountain to be with God. The crucible of loneliness is what gave David’s heart the awareness of God that gave him the title of ‘A man after God’s own heart’. Christ was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by evil. Job’s family was all removed from him, and he was left with three friends who only dealt criticism.



When we are enveloped in social interactions we tend to see through the lenses of those interactions. When a man works in business, business terms and rules of communication fill the way he speaks and looks at the world he lives in. This is why parables can be so effective to some. The twenty-third Psalm means far more to a sheep farmer than to an urbanite. That a man who is without praise is like a city with its gates burned means more to a city dweller than to a countryside farmer. These things being said to make the point that a person’s everyday life shapes their view of reality.

God is serious about the fact that He is holy. In the Ten Commandments God begins by establishing that He is above all gods and moves into that He is above all creation. Our relationship with Him needs to transcend our understanding of normal relationships. Aloneness provides opportunity for this, whether or not the individual is willing is his choice.

It is important not to fill idle time with television, radio, music, or even reading. Quite time filled with prayer, meditation, and reading God’s word are the aspects to an intimate relationship with God.