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Lent JourneySample

Lent Journey

DAY 22 OF 39

DAY 22
Essential loneliness

At the end of Jesus’ earthly existence, He experiences an intense loneliness – nobody understands Him, they reject Him, his friends leave Him, He is humiliated, He suffers physically and goes through spiritual torment, and a helplessness that He himself can do nothing about. But He holds on to one thing: Through this lonely experience, He can fulfill the will of the Father.

Surely God can and will also use loneliness in my own life? I have definitely been lonely before, but do I now have to welcome it into my life?

How do I discern when loneliness is important for my soul?
I think of times when I was lonely – loneliness accompanied by feelings of restlessness, disintegration (as if my life is falling apart) and an emptiness that followed after behaviour that was not beneficial to my life. I think about the loneliness that followed my self-centered and unfaithful behaviour, acting without integrity. During these periods, I started hearing God’s invitation to let go of the loneliness and to change my behaviour.

There is also a different kind of loneliness that I can experience. And like Jesus, it is not because I acted wrongly, but as a result of acting correctly.

In this loneliness I discover more and my inner world expands. I discover how I am more sensitive to others’ pain and how I increasingly realise the magnitude of God’s goodness. Deep in my soul things are happening and I become more and more aware of it. The old saying in the Jewish apocalyptic writings expresses the awakening in my inner world:
Every tear brings the Messiah closer.


EXERCISE
• Today spend time to connect with your own loneliness.
• Do you feel as if there is something (behaviour) that you have to change to move out of the loneliness?
• Is the loneliness that you are experiencing now necessary and good for you?
• Talk to God and thank Him for that.
• And if you feel that this loneliness is necessary for you now, ask God for the strength to persevere and endure it.

Scripture

Day 21Day 23

About this Plan

Lent Journey

Lent is a time when we prepare ourselves for Easter. Lent Journey consists of 38 devotions to accompany us on this journey. We are invited to the undertake the journey with Jesus and thereby prepare ourselves for the two big events that are the pillars of our belief system - the crucifiction and the resurrection.

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