Five Minute Friday: Lonely

Five Minute Friday:  Lonely

 

I have been on both sides of being lonely.  I have been in a crowd of people and felt lonely.  I have been by myself and been lonely.  I have lived in the darkness which loneliness can present.  And, I have lived in the sunlight which loneliness can afford.

I have wallowed in it.  I have waded through it. 

I have given way to despair of it.  I have risen to great heights of hope through it. 

They say “hope is a thing with feathers which perches on the soul” 

Loneliness is hope reversed which tears down all the possibility of perching…. 

Or…..does it? 

As I look back of the seasons of loneliness I have endured, lived through, survived, I more often than not see something surprising…

I see surrender 

In my own smallish life, I see those times of loneliness as some of my greatest seasons for personal growth….for internal development and for spiritual renewal. 

One of my favorite quotes is,  

“when you get to the bottom of yourself, you get to the beginning of God”…. 

And, that is what I see when I glance over my shoulder and back on my life….

Surrender…. getting to the bottom of myself...and, the beginning of Him....

Growth 

Faith

Perseverance 

And, so many other qualities I would not have developed had I not been, at one time, lonely. 

And, just as significant… 

When I turn back….when I reach back….when I purposefully think back…. 

It was when I was at my most lonely of days that God’s presence was most revealed to me…. 

Because out of my loneliness, I was able to look up…to look through….to look into….in a way I which would not have been possible had I not at one time, first…been….

Lonely.

And, greater still….when I pause for reflection of those seasons in my life of loneliness….I see now the myriad of people God sent into my life to hold me, encourage me, love me…. 

And, I am grateful. 

While I do not want to pass through that curtain of loneliness any more than necessary….I know now that when I do, to understand that this may be a season for reflection, for growth, for healing…. 

For my faith to widen and my heart to expand….my spirit to increase and my love to endure… 

There is always the opportunity for growth… 

Even when…. 

Lonely