Conversations in a Cave预览

ISOLATION

We were not designed to be alone. The only thing God said was not good during the creation was for man to be alone. Still, there are people on this earth that are alone. There are people that are with someone and are still alone. 

CIGNA's 2020 Loneliness Index notes that “three in five [United States] Americans report a persistent sense of loneliness, a seven-point jump from the previous 2018 study.” In a two-year timespan, there has been an approximate 61% increase of loneliness among Americans. We have more ways to connect now than ever before through our social media platforms and our mobile devices, yet the feeling of loneliness is at an all-time high.

Over and over, Scripture records many instances when people were left alone, including Abraham, Jacob, and Jesus. We encounter many things alone even if there are other people around. It is in that isolation that God begins to deal with us.

Elijah has called fire down from heaven and destroyed 450 prophets of Baal. He is a warrior and a fighter. He was so fierce that he got the attention of kings and queens and powers, including Jezebel, who threatened to take his life within 24 hours for killing those 450 prophets. Elijah took flight; he ran so fast that he outran a chariot. He ran so fast that he found himself in a moment of despair under a juniper tree, questioning his own sanity. 

Like Elijah, this last year or so has been so busy and you have outrun “chariots.” Then, at a moment of vulnerability, you’ve found yourself despaired of life. It took so much energy to get where you are that you never had time to rest and you’re tired. You had to overcome obstacles and even encourage yourself to get to this place. You have run, trying to make it work, and now you crash, exhausted, and find yourself in a cave!

Isolation has a tendency to affect people in physiological ways. Studies show that isolation can have a negative effect on the brain where it can cause brain damage if a person is not prepared for it. Isolation without proper training can cause the brain to shrink and the memory to cease normal function. Caves cause isolation; and most of us are not trained on how to deal with it. Isolation can be difficult.