Read Clint Decker’s HOPE FOR TODAY column post here or on the column site.

According to experts in the field of human behavior, loneliness is at epidemic levels.  Millions are walking through this dark valley and every day the numbers are growing.

It may seem odd as to how people could feel so lonely in our modern times.  With all the technology available it may seem like an impossibility.  But it is true.  Social media, television, movies on demand and having an ability to instantly connect with anyone anywhere does not remove the struggle.

I grew up as a Pastor’s kid and moved often.  My personal fight with loneliness came in my sophomore year of high school.  We moved again and I felt like I could not fit in to the new school in a new town.  I responded by withdrawing to my room.  My grades plummeted and my parents became deeply concerned.

Here I was surrounded by people at school, church and my family, but overwhelmed by loneliness.

By no means was my story unique.  Loneliness is a common human experience.  Why do we feel this way?  In an article from Time on this subject, it begins by saying “Humans were not designed to be solitary creatures.”  The author is partially right.  We were not created to live in isolation, but she does not identify who we were created by, which is important.

All of us were created by God.  He made you and me.  Furthermore, the article did not clarify “solitary”.  Most writings on loneliness speak of isolation in regard to relationships with other people.  That is partially right too.

Yes, God created human beings to live in relationship with other people . . . and with Him.  Here is a truth.  If we do not know God personally or have drifted in our relationship with Him then we have provided the foundation for loneliness to flourish.

The first step toward victory begins with Him and understanding that He made us for a purpose.  The Scriptures say, “. . . everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7).  God made you to know Him and experience the wonder of His beauty and majesty.  It is there we are made whole and complete, where there is no loneliness, but abiding joy and peace.

Only one thing keeps us from experiencing this – ourselves.  When we purposefully resist God, passively neglect Him, hurt others or put our needs above those around us, we open the door of our life to loneliness.

Here is the good news though.  Jesus came to save us from ourselves.  Through His death and resurrection, He made a way for us to be made whole.

Are you struggling with loneliness?  There is hope!  Take the step of knowing God and following Jesus Christ with all your heart.