The only guy who had a right to feel lonely was Adam prior to God making Eve. I guess you might say Elijah after the Mt. Carmel incident but even with that God assured him there were people on his side. Genesis 2:18 says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Adam could legitimately feel lonely because God had not yet provided anyone for him to have companionship with. We don’t have that excuse. If we feel lonely maybe we have a perspective issue. Maybe we haven’t taken a look around to see all of the people God has provided to renew in us a sense of belonging and community. I am not saying that loneliness is an evil feeling or that we shouldn’t feel it. Loneliness is a perfectly natural part of being human because like hunger and like thirst, it communicates that something is missing that needs to be filled. God made us to experience life in community. The issue comes in how we handle it. God has surrounded us with plenty of loving and understanding people and he expects us to experience the community he has already surrounded us with if we would only open ourselves up to it in times of loneliness.
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Matt Dabbs
April 10, 2024
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I also think it is quite interesting that as God comforted Elijah at Mt. Carmel, he also put him to work. I’ve always thought doing something good for someone else is a good cure for loneliness.
In any event, belonging to the church should guarantee no loneliness, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way.
Thanks for the thoughts Matt. I hope you and the family are doing well.
Of course Adam got to walk through the Garden of Eden with God, talk to Him, be in His constant presence…it could be argued that Adam is the only person to ever live who knew fellowship and intimacy of God first hand, all the time. That sounds awesome.
I think loneliness depends on how much we are willing to give of ourselves to others and receive from others what they are willing to give…if we stink at that, then no amount of attention will ever be enough. If we expect more from others, our expectations will ultimately lead to disappointment because we can’t just accept “what is.”
Great thoughts
That is a wonderful point about Adam not being alone but being with God! Isn’t that the very thing that is supposed to fulfill us? It does and yet God still saw the need for Adam to have human companionship.
You hear people say, “Jesus is all I need.” But all Adam had was God…and it was God who saw that Adam needed a helpmate.
It is incredible to think that intimacy with God, mono au mono, was not enough. Can you imagine talking to God and getting instant feedback….Ok, ok, yeah we can talk to God and yeah, He talks back but being able to have the relationship that He had with Adam…It would be fun to try for a day.