Are You Lonesome Tonight?
As we move into short days and long nights, it becomes easier to feel discouraged. If we are increasingly secluded (by weather and, this year, by governmental edict), we can experience genuine loneliness. I enjoy being alone, but I have a choice in the matter; others do not. Solitude occurs when we want to be alone; loneliness happens when friends and family are taken from us. Solitude soothes, whereas loneliness looms. Because God knows all about us, His Word speaks to us about the painful subject of loneliness. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Loneliness in various forms permeates the first Christmas. We have considered the lonely childlessness of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The blessed remedy was the birth of a son, whom we know as John the Baptist. This great prophet (and there is none greater; see Luke 7:28) was the forerunner of Jesus Christ (Luke 7:26-27; Matthew 17:10-13), yet he experienced extreme loneliness in at least three ways. First, his ministry was decidedly ascetic (Matthew 3:1-4). Second, when many flocked to hear his preaching, John directed these people to follow Jesus (John 1:29-30, 35-37; see also the profound statement of John 3:30). Third, John was arrested for his preaching of righteousness and knew the loneliness of false imprisonment. In fact, John wondered if he had misunderstood Jesus’ ministry (Luke 7:18-20). Some wrongly accuse John of a lack of faith for his questions, but he knew his Old Testament, including Isaiah 61:1, which promised that the Messiah would “proclaim liberty to the captives.” John, languishing in prison, expected Jesus to fulfill this prophecy literally. Rather, Jesus was doing the far greater and eternal work of delivering us (and John) from captivity to sin. Like John, we may not perceive all of God’s ways, but we can be certain that Jesus, God the Son, is “the Way” (John 14:6) and that on our way we are not left lonesome.