If you're reading this late at night, feeling alone, I'm glad you're here.
Loneliness is heavy. It can hit in a crowded room. It can hit when your phone is full of contacts and none of them feel like they'd get it.
I won't pretend a blog post fixes that. But I do want to hand you something that's helped a lot of people, including me.
The Bible keeps saying the same thing to lonely people. You are not actually alone. God is closer than you think.
Here are some verses. Sit with them.
Verses for when you feel alone
- Deuteronomy 31:8 "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you." He's already ahead of you in whatever's coming. And he's not going anywhere.
- Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Never is a strong word. He meant it that way.
- Psalm 139:7-10 "Where shall I go from your Spirit?... If I take the wings of the morning... even there your hand shall lead me." There's nowhere you can go that God isn't already there.
- Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you... I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." When you feel like you're slipping, he's the one holding on.
- Matthew 28:20 "I am with you always, to the end of the age." This was one of the last things Jesus said. Always means tonight too.
- Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." He doesn't wait for you to feel better first. He moves toward the hurt.
- Joshua 1:9 "Do not be frightened... for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Wherever. Even the places that feel empty.
- Psalm 68:6 "God settles the solitary in a home." He sees the ones on the outside. He's in the business of gathering lonely people in.
- Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst... he will rejoice over you with gladness." Read that again. He's not tolerating you. He's glad you're his.
Feeling alone and being alone aren't the same
Here's something I had to learn.
The feeling of being alone is real, and it's awful. But a feeling isn't always the truth.
You can feel completely alone and be surrounded by a God who never once left the room. Both can be true at the same time.
That doesn't make the feeling fake. It just means the feeling isn't the whole story.
I think loneliness lies to us. It whispers that nobody cares and nobody's there and it'll always be like this. None of that holds up against what God says. He says he's near. He says he stays. He says he's glad you're his. When the feeling and the truth disagree, I've learned to trust the truth, even on the nights I can't feel it.
What helps when it's heavy
A few things, honestly, from people who've been there.
Tell God the truth. You don't have to dress it up. "I feel alone and I hate it" is a real prayer. He can handle it.
Pick one verse above and keep it close this week. When the feeling comes back, and it will, read it again.
And reach toward one person. A text. A church. A friend you've been avoiding because reaching out feels like too much. God often shows up through people.
If tonight is really dark, please tell someone safe. You're worth the reach.
You're not as alone as it feels
Loneliness and mental health are tangled together, so if this is where you are, we wrote more honestly about faith and mental health and pulled together verses about strength and hope. No fluff. Just real ground to stand on.
I'll say a quick honest word about what we do, then let you rest.
We make clothing with reminders on it because a reminder on your chest can pull you back to what's true when your head is loud. We give part of our profits to Christian mental health work, because this stuff matters to us. People have told us wearing a reminder helped them feel a little less alone. That's kind of the whole point.
If that's something you want, take the quiz and it'll point you to a piece that fits.
But you don't need a shirt tonight. You need to know you're not alone. And you're not. He's right here.