A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.
Proverbs 18:1
We are in a crowded world of eight billion people. Yet often we feel that we are all alone. Some of us have been in parties or events with crowds of people, yet have felt so distant from others--as if we were separated from all that was happening around us. For others isolation is a defensive mechanism. We build walls up that keep others out because we are afraid of being hurt or rejected. These very walls that we build become the source of our loneliness. Isolation is broken down wall in our lives. If not dealt with properly, isolation can become a source of deep depression and disconnection that can severely affect our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
God did not create us to be alone. In the very beginning of the Bible, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone ..." (Genesis 2:18). God created us to have communion with Him and others. When we decided to disobey God, we broke that community. Strife, debate, hatred, and even murder entered into the realm of mankind. And with those things came fear. Fear of being rejected. Fear of being hurt. Fear of loss. Nobody likes to be afraid and so we run and isolate ourselves.
Isolation can be beneficial if we use it to draw near to God. There is never a time to isolate ourselves from the One who created us. He is the One who has broken down the walls of separation. (Ephesians 2:14) He has reconciled us to Himself and has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) The devil seeks to put barriers in our lives to cause us to feel distant from God and others. He speaks shame and condemnation into our lives so that we will think that even God doesn't love us. It is not the truth. Defeat comes when deception is believed, victory comes when truth is substituted for deception.
The truth is that God loves us. The truth is that God has called us to love others as He has loved us. That means that we not only don't isolate ourselves, but also that we actively seek out and participate in community. There are 59 one another commandments in the New Testament that tell us to "love one another" "encourage one another" "forgive one another" "accept one another" and so many more!
When we realize how much God loves us and what He has done for us, we can begin to tear down the walls of separation between us and others--and sometimes those very walls are in our own minds! We can't wait for others to accept us! We have already been accepted by the One who matters most! His love makes a way for us to love others and build bridges between us and others. Those bridges will be a community in our lives that will save us, equip us, and anoint us for service! (Psalm 133) Let us move forward into the growth that God has for us--the connection with Him and others that brings wholeness and completion in our lives.
Blessings to you!
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