By Chris WittsSunday 22 Sep 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
I asked the question yesterday – ‘Why do we try to walk through life alone, walking through life on your own?‘ I don’t think sometimes we think through these issues. We might be busy. You know, we’re working flat out or we say, look, I’m a self-made person. I don’t need anyone else and we develop a tough exterior that says, don’t mess with me. I don’t need you.
Walking Through Life Alone – Part 1 — Morning Devotions
But I want to suggest this morning it’s really only a cover up. We need others all through life because there is built in us a fundamental need for other people because that’s the way God made us. Sometimes we say our temperament gets in the way. I’m too shy, I’m introverted. I’m not cut out to mix with others. And I’ve heard that comment many times, or we’re a bit fearful of meeting other people. That’s just the way I am. So we convince ourselves that others just won’t accept us, and we decide. Well, look, I’m not very interesting. I’m really nobody.
We need people
But the truth is that others are often more accepting of us than we are of ourselves and we condemn ourselves, and in that process we lose perspective of what’s true and real.
Hopefully, somewhere along that process, someone will come along and tell you that God loves you and that God himself can give you his grace and peace. There’s the fear of sharing ourselves, and it could be based on past experiences. You may have been rejected, abandoned or worse. Still, many have been abused by others, so we certainly don’t want that happening. And many of us, I think, have been burned in the past with these negative feelings. And those feelings can linger on for many years. So we say, I’m never getting near people again who can hurt me?
So what happens? We don’t allow ourselves to be vulnerable anymore. There’s the excuse. I’m too busy. There’s too much happening in my working life. Maybe things will settle down one day, but of course, they never do. We’ve made up our mind that we’re just a self made person, and of course that can be a fairly exhausting process. And sometimes we may yearn for contact with somebody.
I believe that God gives that to us direct from himself, his Holy spirit, but also through other people. So what do we do? Well, Charles Swindle has written a book and written many books, actually, and one of them is called ‘Day by Day’. He maintains that we should have a priority to have authentic relationships with some people. Of course, you can’t do that with everybody.
This is what Chuck Swindle says – nobody is a whole team. We need each other. You need someone, someone needs you. We’re not isolated islands. And to make this thing called life work, we’ve got to lean and support, relate, respond, give and take, confess and forgive, reach out and embrace. Since none of us is a whole independent, self-sufficient, super capable, all-powerful hotshot, let’s stop acting like we are.
Life’s only enough without our playing that silly role. The game’s over, he says. Let’s link up. So I think that’s a very good, straightforward way of expressing it. Perhaps you’ve heard the suggestions- why don’t you join a club or you could do some travelling? Well, they’re pretty good ideas, actually, but they’re not solutions to the problem of loneliness. They’re probably things that you need to break free from thinking.
And you could ask God to show you what it is that’s holding you back.
Sometimes you need to accept what can’t be changed, and then what can be changed? Sometimes destructive self-talk can get in the way. Look at the way you are from God’s perspective. Study the Bible. Meditate on those verses that tell you who you are. Make a point of getting out of the house. Say once a week, attend church or community functions. Get involved in some class. So in that way you can develop new habits that build up your inner self.
Exercise can be a very positive experience, actually, because it can help you if you use it right. Help you to study the things that really matter. Make an effort to make new friends. So I’m saying that loneliness can be overcome. The Bible says, as the psalmist expressed it, the Lord will fulfil his promise, For me your love O Lord endures forever. That’s Psalm 138:8. So God can actually help you.
Let’s Pray
Well, Lord, it’s so easy to destroy a good relationship with a friend by something I don’t say or do say. Lord, may I try to get on with others to build others up and help myself in that process, Amen.