When You Feel All Alone in the World
Do you feel all alone in the world? I invite you to read these words slowly. Let them wash over you and shape you from the inside out.
When You Feel All Alone in the World
The clouds are laying low tonight.
Layers of powder blue rest on smoky white. I hold my baby boy in my arms and get lost in the moment. We sway on the glider as blackbirds flutter overhead. They’re headed east, like maybe they’re chasing down the dawn.
I glance down at the fuzzy head to see if his eyes have closed. Every time, those bright blue eyes are still open, gazing at me in expectation. His body is completely relaxed in his mother’s arms, but his eyes are alert as ever.
Maybe I could learn something from this little one. As a mother comforts her child, so the Lord comforts us. We are held.
Sometimes, the fluttering of the blackbirds over your head starts to feel just a bit too overwhelming. And what you really need to know when you feel all alone is that you are held.
Perhaps a friendship falls apart.
You lose your job.
Anxiety threatens to paralyze you.
You can’t find your joy amid the daily grind.
Friend, you are still held.
3 Truths For When You Feel All Alone in Life:
Do you feel all alone in this wide world? Do you need to remember you are held? Here are a few truths to carry you through:
1. When you feel all alone, God holds you with a desire to comfort you.
I’ve read Psalm 131 dozens of times, but it wasn’t until this spring that it reached the deepest part of me. I was in a difficult season that seemed like it might just never end, and I stumbled into these words:
But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. (Psalm 131:2)
A nursing baby finds instant comfort in his mother’s arms. However, a weaned child is different. A weaned child has learned to find comfort even when the reward of being held is exclusively limited to being close. The weaned child has learned that the same arms that provide sustenance can also withhold. The child is content, even in the withholding.
Does it feel like God has been holding out on you?
He waits to offer his life-giving comfort, even in your season of dryness. God invites you to draw near to him. He promises to draw near to you. (For a list of ways to connect with God, click here.)
2. Remember this: God inscribed your image on his hands.
Isaiah 49:16 reads: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”
In the time of this prophecy, it was a common custom to engrave names and images of important people, and even gods, on the body. This text reminds us that we are precious to the Lord. Isaiah also describes the walls of Jerusalem during the time of captivity. At the time Isaiah wrote these words, the walls were rubble.
God remembered the walls as they were meant to be, standing tall and firm. In the same way, if the “walls” of your life seem to have fallen, God holds the precious image of your restored life in his view. He has not given up on you. He waits to rebuild what your enemies have torn down.
3. Remember God’s everlasting arms are waiting to catch you.
Deuteronomy 33:27 reads: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’”
These words were originally intended to encourage God’s people as they aimed to drive the Canaanites from the Promised Land.
God was faithful to drive out these enemies. He waited (with outstretched arms) to encompass Israel as their refuge and support.
God works to bring deliverance for us as well.
He waits with open arms to catch us when we fall. His character has not changed. He is reliable to reach out and take hold of us. You are never all alone in this wide world; underneath are the everlasting arms.
A Free Resource for When You Feel All Alone in the World
God wants to lift your head. Learn how to turn to him for hope and healing by downloading a free chapter of my book, Lean Into Grace. This chapter will help you process your emotions and bring your broken heart to God for healing. This chapter “Crying in the Bathroom,” is yours for free with promo code GRACE right here today.
Calling all moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
