For The Lonely, For The Ashamed, The Misunderstood, And The Ones To Blame

For The Lonely, For The Ashamed, The Misunderstood, And The Ones To Blame

Psalm 102:1-2, 6-7, 27-28 “Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. … I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. … But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”

Today’s prayer point is to pray for those with a spirit of loneliness. It surprises me how we can live in an age with so much technology and yet have so many people who feel lonely. It is easier than ever to stay in touch with people. When my mom and dad were dating, my dad joined the military. They would write each other letters and then have to wait for them to arrive in the mail. Now, you can send an email, and the other person can get it instantly. You can also send a text message on your cell phone; you can send a Facebook message, an Instagram message, a Snapchat message, and so many more messages that people will get immediately. Our teens are on their phones all day, every day, and they are on social media often. They have hundreds of friends online, and yet they feel so alone. I was talking to someone the other day who said she can be in a room full of people yet feel alone. Why is this?

It is because that is how the enemy wants us to feel. He wants us to feel alone so that we pull away even more. He wants us to feel like no one will understand what we are going through and no one likes us. He wants us to feel like we are different, don’t fit in, and are awkward. He whispers these things in our ears even when we are in a room full of people. That way, we don’t take a risk and meet someone new. He persuades us not to talk about what we are going through for fear of judgment because he knows if we talk about it, we will find others going through the same thing, and then we won’t feel so alone.

Even though we have more ready access to communication, it is not meaningful communication. My kids have Snapchat, where you send messages, which they call snaps, back and forth to each other. The app has a streak system to count the days you “snap” back and forth with each contact. The kids obsess about getting and keeping these streaks. In theory, this might be good as it motivates the kids to stay in contact with their friends. However, they aren’t actually writing anything important. They can snap a photo of the wall, the ceiling, or the floor and send that. So, it is not actual communication; it is just something to keep the streak going. I think this is why they feel so alone. They see how many “friends” they have on social media, yet most don’t know them.

There has been a song in my head all morning since I read what the prayer point for today was. The song is called God Only Knows by For King and Country. I want to go over the lyrics with you. It begins with:

Wide awake while the world is sound asleep and

Too afraid of what might show up while you're dreaming

Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you

Nobody, nobody would believe you

This is what the enemy tries to get us to believe. He convinces us that we can’t talk to anyone about our feelings because they won’t believe us. And sometimes our loved ones can make us feel this way. It is hard when a loved one tells you they feel all alone and depressed. If they are good at hiding it, we might disagree with or downplay it. We might say they will be fine. We might tell them things will be ok and that they need some sleep. We might tell them things aren’t as bad as they think. We might tell them they have nothing to be sad about. I am not saying these are things we should say; I am saying these are things we do say at times, and they don’t help the situation. They make the person feel more misunderstood and alone. If someone comes to you and tells you they are sad, lonely, or depressed, then they have probably been suffering in silence for a long time before coming to you. Do all you can to take them seriously and get them the professional help they need.

Every day, you try to pick up all the pieces

All the memories, they somehow never leave you

Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you

Nobody, nobody would believe you

Those who are lonely and afraid try each morning to pretend they are fine. They try to get out of bed and put on a happy face so no one knows what they feel inside. They do their best to smile while around others. However, inside, they still have all the bad memories of what happened. They still have all those negative voices from the enemy telling them they aren’t good enough, don’t fit in, and don’t measure up. They truly feel like nobody sees them, and nobody would believe them.

God only knows what you've been through

God only knows what they say about you

God only knows how it's killing you

But there's a kind of love that God only knows

This is what we need to help our loved ones understand. God sees them. God knows what they have been through. He knows how they feel. God knows the depths of what they are going through, and He is there for them. We need to help them realize they are never alone. God is with them now, then, and forever. There was never a time when God wasn’t with them, and there will never be a time when He is not there. They can always talk to Him, and He will always listen. They can invite Him into any situation.

You keep a cover over every single secret

So afraid if someone saw them, they would leave

But somebody, somebody, somebody sees you

Somebody, somebody will never leave you

God sees them. God sees you. If you are listening to this and know exactly what I am talking about because you feel like you could be the person in this song, I want you to know that God sees you. That God will never leave you. He knows what you are going through. He hears you crying out, and He is working on your situation. He is right there by your side. We learned in Encounter School of Ministry that we can ask God to show us where He is right now. You can ask Him where He was during a particular memory. You can ask Him how He is loving you right now. You can ask God anything you want to ask Him, and if you are willing to listen, He will answer.

For the lonely, for the ashamed

The misunderstood and the ones to blame

What if we could start over?

We could start over

We could start over.

This part is great because it asks if we could start over. What if we could begin again? What if we did things differently? What if we spoke up? What if we didn’t pretend we were fine? What if we let people in? How would things be different? It is also a great question for those of us who have loved ones who are lonely, feel ashamed, misunderstood, and the ones to blame. What if we could start over, too? What if we believed them? What if we supported them? What if we got them the professional help they needed? What if we loved them through all of it?

God only knows where to find you

God only knows how to break through

God only knows the real you

There's a kind of love that God only knows

This last part is really important. God knows where to find you. You are never hidden from God. You may not want Him to see you. You may not want to share your innermost thoughts with Him, but nothing is hidden from God. He sees them, and He is crying with you. God knows how to break through to you and how you can break through the darkness to the light. Turn to Him, ask Him. If it is a loved one in the darkness, ask Him to give you the wisdom and knowledge to help your loved one break through. God is the answer!! God knows the real you. The enemy will try to get you to believe lies about yourself. He will try to convince you that God couldn’t love you. That God couldn’t forgive you. That God doesn’t like you. These are all lies. You are a beloved son or daughter of God, and He loves, forgives, and likes you. He knows the real you. Not the you that you show everyone else, the real you. Who you are down deep inside. He knows the real you and loves all of you!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to touch all the hearts of those listening today. Lord, we ask you to reach out in a special way to the lonely today. Lord, fill their hearts with love. Help them feel your presence today, Lord. Help them to see the lies the enemy has been telling them. Help them to know that you are with them and that they are never alone. Help them to see that it is never too late to start again. Help them know how loved they are. Lord, we ask you to show their loved ones how to be there for them. Show their loved ones what to say and how to support them. We need you, Lord; they need you, Lord!! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Reminder: tomorrow is mentoring day. If you want to join, you can go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or click the link in the show notes. I hope to see some of you tomorrow night, Tuesday, at 8 P. M. EST. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is in the form of an image someone received. “I saw a large pit, and thousands and thousands of people were around that pit. We, as believers, were surrounding the people who were headed for the pit, and we were trying to convince them not to go there. Not to go there. So, every prayer we say, every lifting up of a soul that we do, we actually turn them around and bring them back to the Lord instead of falling into the pit. No matter what you do, if it's a phone call if it's saying hello to somebody, you change their hearts in mind just by being in their presence because you are His disciples. So your presence is Magnificat to those who have fallen.”

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