When I’m Feeling Lonely

Loneliness does not depend on how many friends or relationships you have. Loneliness depends entirely on the subjective quality of your relationships—on whether you feel emotionally and/or socially disconnected from those around you.   Many people in your own circle may feel lonely from time to time.   For some it may be to the point of deep despair.   For others they may not even call it loneliness, but they are asking the questions, does anybody care about how I’m feeling or know the pain I feel?  It is imperative in the church that we address these issues through the eyes of the Bible.   It is also important that we don’t miss how God might be using these times to grow us in Him.  It is our hope that we can all say together ‘When I’m feeling lonely I find refuge in God and he draws me into intimacy & fellowship’.

Read:

• Psalm 25:16-19
• Psalm 142

• What do these passages tell us about God?
• What do these passages tell us about you and your life?
• What did you like about this passage?
• What did you not like about this passage?

David was undeniably lonely in the cave. The men of Israel were after him and his own king pursued him wanting to take his life.  His prayer in Psalm 142 was a cry to God from a broken place. The prayer could be broken into 4 parts:

1. Express your pain
2. Exclaim the promises of God
3. Experience intimacy
4. Enjoy God’s goodness & fellowship

David chose to press into God in this time.   He was honest but he was honouring to God.

Discuss one or more of the following questions.

1. Do you think it is OK to complain to God? Why or why not? What are the limits?
2. Talk about a time when you may have felt lonely. How did you deal with it?
3. To exclaim the promises of God is to shout out the truth.
   Do you have a truth that you call to mind in difficult times?
   Tell the group the truth and how it brings life to a dark place.
4. Case Study: Jane is a 35-year-old single mother of 2 young children who has recently moved to Melbourne. Generally, she has a smile on her face in public but her family is noticing she is drawing away. Her mother in another state has called the church and asked if someone could contact Jane.  After contact with her it is clear that she is in pain and desperately lonely.Discuss how together, as a Life Group, you could help Jane and her family.
5. Paul said ‘sometimes we run from this kind of pain and fill it with noise: work noise, Facebook noise, religious noise, and inappropriate relationship noise. Ironically, often out of a fear of being lonely, we drown out the voice of God, we harden our hearts, and we potentially doom ourselves to the very loneliness we were trying to avoid.’Describe the noise in your life that threatens your ability to hear from God and develop greater intimacy.
   What is it about a deeper intimacy with God that either excites or scares you?

1. Is there a truth that God wants you to obey?
2. What will you do to obey this? I will…