Living Life by Design

I was a normal (ok, a little hyperactive) teenager. I had friends at school and had a happy family. This all changed when I turned 15. My mother died of cancer. As you can imagine, it was devastating. In the months and years that followed, I became more & more angry, lonely and isolated. My sister turned to drugs and at 15 left home. My father did his best to try and keep the family together but failed, miserably. I know he loved my sister and I but he could never say it or show it. 

My sister tried to find the love & acceptance she was longing for through drugs. I tried to hide my pain through violence. It is only by Gods grace that we both are alive today.

Most peoples image of loneliness is a frail, old lady living alone in a shabby house. In reality, it could easily be a well dressed young man at a party trying to make conversation with a girl who seems uninterested. Being surrounded by people often doesn’t help. It can actually compound the feelings of isolation, and loneliness. 

Mother Teresa once said, ‘Loneliness and the feeling of being uncared for and unwanted are the greatest poverty.’ Loneliness is one of the greatest problems facing humanity today.

God did not intend for us to be lonely and isolated. The pain and loneliness my sister and I felt was ‘a homesickness for God’. We just didn’t know it. God created all of us for community – calling us into a loving relationship with him and with other human beings. 

The local church is ‘the world’s hope’. The church in the New Testament is described as ‘the people of God’. The people of God gather in local churches all over the world. The writer of Hebrews quotes the book of Jeremiah saying, ‘I will be their God, and they will be my people’ (v.10). No longer isolated and alone, we are part of the most amazing community.

I spent many years angry, alone and searching for something (or someone) to ease my pain. The day that a friend took a chance, and invited me to church, changed my life. It was there that I met Jesus and all the pain and loneliness left.

Who’s life will you change today?