Psalm 142:4 Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.

      For many, dying of emptiness is taking place within the souls of the lonely. Statistically, loneliness has become the greatest disappointment people have experienced over the last few decades. Some of the statistics for those who suffer extreme loneliness are pushing new boundaries to the point of living with a constant ache in their hearts. Their daily regret is being alive and without the will to live. Job 3:11 Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? The inability to reach out and be reached is the dichotomy being fought within the psyche of this lonely generation.

      Even though these people are in a crowded room, school, or on a crowded bus, they feel they are fading away like the washed-out colours on an old roadside billboard. Gun-barrel-grey is the brightest colour they can see, and the insipid taste of failure is expressed by the words of their loneliness. Starving for intimacy and friendship is the malnutrition of this age. Their desperate expressions of utter abandonment have become the words of the Psalmist saying, “No one cares for my life.” This lonely generation is living on empty and slipping into the ranks of a non-person. The inner howling emanating from their hollow existence claims, “No one cares or is listening.” Psalm 142:4 Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.

      Unfortunately, this state of being is causing some to lock themselves away and cocoon within their grief, exacerbating their dilemma of no longer being seen, noticed, or acknowledged, thus adding to their detachment. The circle of life becomes a circle of dying, the death of a thousand cuts, leaving their souls scarred and vulnerable to the suggestions of a demonic liar. The words guilt and guilty become words they live with and are besieged with. As I ponder all this grief that the lonely are going through, I can only think of the scene from Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream. I can feel their expression of no way out; nowhere to go has become their daily bread. Jonah 1:12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” When self-condemnation becomes a person’s default setting, it is most likely the result of the enemy of our soul maneuvering that person into a precarious position where a true life and death decision must be made, or all will be lost.

      The Lord Jesus did not come to earth to make bad people good or make people feel better about themselves. He came to save and make dead people live and thrive in the presence of God. Humanity was dead in their trespasses and sins, and Jesus sacrificed His life to bring us back into fellowship with our Heavenly Father, where emptiness can be filled with the righteousness of God. Eph. 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. The world has no real answers to all the loneliness, depression, anxiety disorders, and sicknesses of every kind. Jesus said He came that we would have life, and have His life within us with the holy abundance that God the Father is offering those who accept it. John 10:10b I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

      We, and all of mankind, need to be reaching toward God even if it is the faintest of gestures. A faint hope clause per se. Isa. 42:3 A bruised reed He will not break and a smouldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. A whisper toward God’s ear can bring His mighty deliverance to the loneliest person who needs an eternal friend. God asks us to draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us. The Lord is so near that just thinking about the thought of drawing near to God in our hearts, will be heard by God, and He will hear the high volume of that desperate scream. Jer. 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know. There is never any call waiting in heaven; we all have a direct line to God the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. No matter how far down the dark tunnel of despair you may have wandered, call on the name of God and He will answer you. You can count on the Lord waiting to hear from you because He is the shepherd who is out looking for you.

        The Word of God asks us to be willing to be a friend. Prov. 18:24 A man that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. As alone as you may be, reach out and become available to be a friend. We do reap what we sow, and yes, there is a risk when we put ourselves out there that our gesture of friendship may be rejected. We are in good company because Jesus’s hand, which is extended toward mankind, is often rejected. However, that does not stop God from loving and reaching out to the lost, lonely, and sinfully fallen.

      According to Jesus’ teaching, He asked, “Who was the faithful servant?” He was the one who stepped forward while living their painful life and extending a gracious hand. Matt. 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ When we, by faith, obey what God asks of us, we step out of our lonely state of existence because we become an extended hand of God’s loving ministry toward those who have given up on life. Matt. 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.‘ We cannot die of emptiness when the Lord of Glory is our reason for being present at the moment of accepting all that God has for our living souls. Life begets life, and in Christ, we are full of life.