Twenty-two years ago, I made a marriage vow before God and family to love and honor a man who was an airline pilot. He intentionally had waited to find a wife until he was in the profession so that his future wife would understand what the airline lifestyle would be like. I admit that in the beginning, I was smitten with the idea of being married to a pilot. The idea of being able to travel and explore was exciting! I had this secret wish list that I hoped to visit every continent. I understood that he would be away several days at a time then home for several days. There would be earlymorning departures and late-night arrivals. He would follow dates better than the day of the week. I fell in love with him because it was obvious to me that he loved Jesus, we had many common interests, and he had an authentic desire to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
Reality Sets In
But the reality of being married to an airline pilot really started to settle in shortly after we were married. It could be very lonely both for me, as a spouse at home, and for him, on the road. Yes, we talked on the phone every day. But there is something about being physically present in the same room with a friend, a family member, or a spouse. We need companionship. We were created for relationships.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Loneliness is “sadness because one has no friends or company,” as defined by Oxford dictionary. Loneliness is “subjective distress, meaning the discrepancy between the social relationships that you have versus the ones you want,” as found on www.amenclinics.com. A recent advisory from the US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cites data and research that found that nearly half of adults in the United States experience feelings of loneliness daily. Loneliness has become its own epidemic.
The Good News
Jesus has Good News that speaks to loneliness. First, Jesus sees you and He loves you. Second, Jesus invites you to come to Him to receive His Living Water. Third, Jesus formed the Body of Christ to be your family. Read John 4:1-30.
For you see, when I got married, I had this expectation that loneliness would go away because of my husband. The reality is that I needed a deeper relationship with Jesus. I also needed to be physically involved in the life of our home church as my family. And I loved it when Eugene was physically present to be a part of our church family too.
The invitation is this: Accept Jesus’ offer of Living Water and physically be present with the Body of Christ. Let them welcome you, love you, and be family to you. In Jesus, you can be set free from loneliness. Let Jesus mold you into the person that He created you to be.
“For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19 NRSV
