The holidays can be a lonely time for some people. Widows or widowers whose worlds have been turned upside down by the death of their husband or wife; single people yearning for someone to love them and share their lives; those who are estranged from family for one reason or another; people who just moved to a new place and don’t know anyone; soldiers deployed on a lonely battlefield and spouses or kids left behind; people who try to make a true friend, but just can't seem to, no matter how hard they try.

Loneliness. It can be brutal. It's the voice inside us that cries out, "Won’t someone please love me and notice me and care about me?" It's the inner yearning for someone to want us - not because we can do something for them, but because they desire to be involved in our life. It's being hungry for someone to care when we experience pain - big or little - and express that caring to us. It's the deep-seated need to have someone with which to share our joys.

And when you don't have someone in your life like this, life can be torment.

Some people get so lonely that they feel like dying. They're tired of going home to an empty house or apartment or room. They don't want to travel or eat alone anymore. The thought of doing this longer is demoralizing. Some feel so much despair that they ponder suicide rather than continue alone in this world. Others try to fill their loneliness by having sex with anyone who will have them. They wander from man to man or woman to woman, jumping in bed with anyone who might hold them for a few minutes and drive loneliness away. Still others try to drown their loneliness with booze, whisk it away with drugs or deny its reality with constant work.

But these things aren't the answer. The answer is God.

Jesus knew this. Just before he died he told his disciples that they would all abandon him and that he'd be alone. Then he said, "Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me" - John 17:32b (NLT). Even though he faced brutal beating and crucifixion and no human stood by him through every moment of that - God DID stand with him. And Jesus mentally lived in that reality. He KNEW God was with him.

Even when he hung on the cross and cried, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me," he followed it up with his final words, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." He momentarily FELT forsaken, but in his mind he knew it wasn't so. So he came back to the reality that God was still there with him.

The same is true for you. You may FEEL lonely and all alone. But you aren't. God is with you. He sees all that happens to you and knows every feeling. Don't turn to suicide or sex or become angry or bitter because you're lonely. Turn to God!

Practice his presence. Remind yourself he is near. Talk to him. Seek him. Read his Word and renew your mind with the truth of his promises. Surround yourself with his people. Draw near to him and he will draw near to you. Trust that he still loves you, even when it doesn't feel like it and keep seeking him.

You will discover that you are never alone. God is with you, as he was with Jesus. And he will give you whatever you need to make it through - including a life-mate or friend. In his time, he will fill your loneliness in ways you never dreamed and give you strength you never imagined possible.

So, be patient and wait on the Lord. Seek God and never stop. Remember, he's lonely for you too.