Lent 2019 | Day 10 | Lonely Places and Lonely Spaces

SCRIPTURE ------ “The news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him...but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” - Luke 5:15-16 (See also Mark 1:45) DEVOTION ------ Over this past week we’ve seen how important it was for Jesus to withdraw to solitary places to pray to and be with Father God. A lonely place doesn’t have to be a physical space. We carry lonely places in our hearts as well. And just as we may avoid physical places that make us feel lonely, we may tend to avoid the lonely places inside ourselves as well. We avoid with sarcasm, self-protection, busyness, eating, shopping, to-do lists, drinking, working, screen time, Netflix, exercising, socializing, etc. But the Holy Spirit desires to lead us beneath this activity. It is there that Father God is longing to meet with us just like He met with Jesus. The depth of feeling lonely is feeling unseen, unknown, and disconnected. However, we are created to be seen, be known, and to be intimately connected. In this way loneliness may serve as a sign to places that need to be filled, that need to know connection. God is Yahweh… The Great I Am. You can trust that Father God is longingly waiting to be with you in every space because in every place that you confess “I am lonely”, your tender God replies, “I AM”. Move toward the lonely places and the lonely spaces. God is with you. REFLECTION ------ Where do you notice you feel the most alone? Where does the Accuser try and tell you that you are alone? Where does the accuser challenge your identity as a son or daughter of God? Take some time to confess these spaces and ask for God to come into those spaces with a picture, a promise, or just the beauty of his peace as you bring this lonely place to the one who sees you, knows you, and will never leave you. PRAYER ------ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I love you. I adore you. Thank you for your nearness, your love, your unconditional acceptance of me. There are places inside of me that feel so alone. But even still, you are with me. Open up my heart to experience the knowledge of your abiding love. Make me more conscious of your leading, your guiding, and grace me with the trust and faith to follow the path of my pain and loneliness into the new discoveries of your love that you have waiting for me.