Can You Be Lonely Yet Happy?
Friday January 9, 2009
The most painful lessons in life usually turn out to be the most worthwhile when we let them teach us what God wants us to learn. For me, loneliness was a valuable instructor in my life. The writings of Elizabeth Elliot, the Christian author, speaker, and former missionary to Ecuador, inspired me greatly in my single years on the mission field.
Photo: Annabelle Breakey / Getty Images
While reading Elliot's book, The Path of Loneliness: Finding Your Way Through the Wilderness to God, I was encouraged to let my loneliness become a pathway that would lead me into a closer, more intimate friendship with God. I found myself becoming thankful for the dark and empty experiences of loneliness, because without them I would not have known the strong comfort and personal connection I now enjoy with God.
Photo: Annabelle Breakey / Getty Images
In this article for Christian Singles, Jack Zavada of Inspiration-for-Singles.com asks, "Can you be lonely yet happy?" Upon closer inspection of the truth about loneliness, we discover that you can be lonely and happy if you let your loneliness become a passageway to a deeper relationship with God.
- Find Help Overcoming Loneliness: Can You Be Lonely Yet Happy?
- Loneliness Therapy.
- The Cure for Loneliness.
Comments
Mary, this hits the nail on the head. Henri Nouwen has encouraged me in this area as well. He said, “We are called to convert our loneliness into solitude. We are called to experience our aloneness not as a wound but a gift - as God’s gift - so that in our aloneness we might discover how deeply we are loved by God. It is precisely where we are most alone, most unique, most ourselves, that God is most closest to us.”
Nice article.
Charles -
I love that quote: “We are called to convert our loneliness into solitude. We are called to experience our aloneness not as a wound but a gift - as God’s gift … It is precisely where we are most alone, most unique, most ourselves, that God is most closest to us.”
Thanks for sharing it!