Landing Yourself in Less Lonely Territory

By Kristen Strong

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Tears trailed down my face on my last day at Mark Twain Elementary in Miamisburg, Ohio, the school where I met with every single student every single week as their music teacher. On that day, the kids’ tears told me they were sad to see me go, and the hugs of fellow teachers who’d become cherished friends told me the same.

Shortly after, my husband, children, and I moved from Ohio to New Mexico where I knew no one beyond my family. For weeks after arriving, I looked outward at the bleak desert landscape and inward at my barren, lonely heart and silently listed all the ways life fell short.

I knew it was well and good to share how I really felt—lonely beyond all measure—with the Lord. Yet I needed to pivot my attitude toward something less . . . miserable.

I’m familiar with Jonah’s story of disobedience to the Lord that landed him in the belly of a fish (Jonah 1). However, what I didn’t realize was how Jonah, after confessing his sin, gave thanks in the belly of that fish: “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you” (2:9).

Jonah surely longed to be out of the fish as I longed to be out of the desert. Yet Jonah gave grateful praise while in a mighty lonely place.

After Jonah did so, Scripture says God commanded the fish to spit Jonah up on dry land. That made me think, Maybe gratitude is the way I land myself in less lonely territory too.

Change in my local friendship landscape came eventually, but the change in my heart came more quickly by pivoting from grumbling to gratitude because it revealed God’s provision—and presence—right where I was.

It turns out one can bloom in the desert.

Pray

Lord, thank You for giving me this path of gratitude to walk even when loneliness won’t leave. While You welcome me sharing my very real feelings of loneliness with You, help me see the value in pivoting from what I don’t have to what I do. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus, who walks with me in my lonely seasons. In His name, amen.

Was this plan helpful? We adapted this plan from Praying Through Loneliness: A 90-Day Devotional for Women, compiled by Kristen Strong. Check it out for more.