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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
This article is written with the full recognition that there is a vast difference between being alone and being lonely. However, there was a reason that God recognized from the beginning that it was not good for man to be alone (see Genesis 2.18). There are a number or reasons for that recognition, but among them was the desire to prevent loneliness as a way of life for man.
Man is destined to periods of loneliness; there is no way around it! Even the most blessed of us have seasons in which we are, at best, visited by loneliness, or at worst, swallowed up in it. Even David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13.22), wrote on one occasion, “Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate [lonely] and afflicted.” (Psalm 25.16 NKJV [RSV reading in brackets]). Anyone who has not experienced loneliness is either very, very young, not cognizant of his/her own existence, or a liar! Loneliness is a malady, a painful and sometimes debilitating ill, that is far, far too real in many of our lives.
Perhaps another point of clarification is in order just now. It is a well established fact that loneliness does not merely mean being alone; it is more of a state of being disconnected than aloneness; in other words, there is a difference between aloneness and loneliness. Many, many people are lonely though they are surrounded by people. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone so he created a helper suitable for him. The key to this point is the fact that the woman was fitted for or suitable for the man. God did not create a woman who was unsuited for Adam otherwise loneliness might have well been a fact of life even though he was not alone!
From this point we begin to understand that there is a connection between the biblical term “fellowship” and the absence of loneliness. God wants and has always wanted fellowship with man. He also recognized that man is a social creature, one who would seek out fellowship with others. The fellowship that we as human beings seek is not always good; sometimes we seek out others to be partners with us and our deeds regardless of the rightness or wrongness of them. That is the principle behind the prohibition in the Law of Moses not to follow a multitude to do evil (see Exodus 23.2). It is a fact that we seldom find lasting pleasure in sin unless we find others who find pleasure in the same sin! The debased Gentiles of Romans 1 not only practiced vile acts but they found pleasure in others who practiced similar things (see Romans 1.32). As social creatures, we are prone to the same allurements.
Man does not like to be lonely; he desires companionship regardless of the venture involved. God knows this fact very well. However, so does Satan! Satan uses loneliness as a key to open heart-doors and thereby gain admittance to areas where he otherwise could not go. Loneliness is painful in and of itself but it also is fraught with dangers if we do not take steps to overcome it. It is not good for man to be alone – or lonely for extended periods of time!
Questions:
1. Why did God create woman (no jokes; just Bible please)?
2. What generic need did God fill by creating the woman (not just sexual or procreation though this was accomplished in this same way)?
3. What it the difference between loneliness and aloneness?
4. List some of the things that GOd has done so that man does not need to be alone.
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