Feeling Lonely?

Mary Mercury looked down and to the right toward Johnny Johnson.

All the motors from the Yamaha family down the street and their Yamaha friends smiled and talked among themselves. Their propellers glistened in the sun. They held their heads high as they talked about the upcoming boating season.

Johnny slid back a few inches like he wanted to hide.

Mary dropped her head. What am I going to do? Even Johnny, who is being adopted by the Evinrudes is stronger and sleeker than me. Once he’s part of that family, he’ll be happy, too. There’s no way I’ll get to go out on the water this year.

———–

Sound familiar?

You and I have these same thoughts and they are not just the makings of a children’s book about loneliness using animated motors as characters. No, loneliness is real life. Gut-wrenching real life.

It often starts with “I’m different.”

Our thoughts may resemble this. “I am [insert your personal difference] than everyone else”.

Fatter… uglier… skinnier… not as happy… more negative… more fearful… poorer… disliked more…

Or maybe you say this to yourself. “Everyone else is better at [insert your perceived shortcoming] than me.”

Writing… talking… living a Christian life… loving… sports… mingling… fixing things…

Our perceived limitations and shortcomings can be endless. If you knew me only a little, you could find some of mine in the examples I gave.

I’m not a therapist and frankly, I’m pretty terrible at giving advice, so I’m not going to walk away with “10 steps to becoming a better you” from this post. What I hope to provide is a strong Biblical example of someone who dealt with this issue.

We know from reading Genesis chapter 37 that Joseph is different.

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons…” (Genesis 37:3, NASB)

We might think knowing, “I am loved more than anyone else,” would be a blessing. I’m not sure he felt that way. His father’s preferential treatment almost killed Joseph. That’s because his brothers didn’t appreciate Joseph being the favored son.

“And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.” (Genesis 37:4)

Quickly, Joseph went from “I am loved more…” to “I am hated more…” Imagine living a life where all your siblings hated you. They couldn’t even talk to him nicely. Every conversation likely filled with negativity and scorn. Even with their antagonism, Joseph could not help telling them about his dreams that predicted their future bowing to him.

To help with the length of this post, let’s cut to the result of their hatred.

“When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.” (Genesis 37:18)

Joseph eventually made his way to Egypt (despite his brothers trying to kill him). He rose to the rank of second only to Pharoah. His position allowed him to save his family and fulfill God’s promise to multiply Abraham’s family. See how what appeared to be Joseph’s story turned out to be God’s story.

God is true to his promises. Joseph proclaimed God’s love and faithfulness to keep his promise when he told his brothers…

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

God is still faithful. He will bring about His good and perfect will through you and me. As hard and difficult as life may be when we feel lonely and different, we can rely on God.

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Today’s feature photo comes from a “photo-a-day” challenge I pursued several years ago. The photo inspires the topic. For me, the posts challenge my creativity, writing discipline, and dependence on God for His message. My prayer is that you find hope in God’s Word, and that you’ll share your hope with others.