Hope for When You Feel Emotionally Alone

Do you ever feel like you have no one to talk to? Like no one could possibly understand what you are going through or how you are feeling? That’s where I’ve been this week.

There are things going on that I simply can’t discuss on the internet. Not because I don’t want to be candid, trust me I do, but because it really isn’t my information to share. Yet the feelings it leaves me with are very real.

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever wanted more than anything to talk to someone who could understand where you are at, yet not known who that was?

My heart is breaking, yet I feel alone.

And this isn’t the first time I have felt this way either…

Life Happens (& it’s hard)

In 2002, my (now) ex-husband left me for another woman. I moved back into my mom’s house with our baby boy, and tried to move on with my life but it was one of the emotionally turbulent experiences I had ever been through. And I was only 18.

I had graduated high school a year early and decided to wait to get my degree. My friends were all either still in high school, or enjoying their first year of college. Either way, none of them understood what I was going through. And even though I had grown up in the church, I was still pretty new to having an actual relationship with Jesus.

So I felt alone.

During the day you never would have guessed how much I was hurting. I was bitter, and that showed, but I saved my tears until everyone else had gone to bed.

No one my age could possibly understand, and anyone older than me wrote me off as just a kid, even though what I was going through wasn’t “kid” stuff.

Every night I cried out to Jesus for someone to talk to. I wanted Jesus to be enough, but I also wanted someone who was flesh and blood who could hug me and tell me everything was going to be okay.

I wanted a Christian friend who could understand what I was going through.

Emotionally Alone

Fast-forward to today and I find myself in the exact same place, but for different reasons.

I am surrounded by people who love me. My husband and children. Our church family. An amazing small-town community. Yet even with all of these people who are flesh and blood, I still feel emotionally alone.  I feel emotionally alone, even though I have prayed and poured my heart out to Jesus (because that’s the only way I can sleep at night).

If you have ever been where I am, can I tell you something?

We are not alone, but Satan would love for us to believe that we are.

I know God wants to use this time to grow my faith. But I also know that’s hard and I won’t make it through this trial unscathed without Jesus.

While I am walking through this emotional wilderness, I know that while I feel alone, I am anything but.

Know What You Know

When Jesus was in the wilderness facing all of Satan’s trials, He knew He wasn’t alone.

“And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.'” (Matthew 4:3)

Ladies, Jesus knew He was the Son of God. That was never a question in His mind, and I think that’s part of the reason He was able to endure.

Satan wants us to believe his lies. He wants us to question not only who we are, but Who is with us.

Satan wants us to believe that we are alone.

The first time I went through a wilderness, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. And my faith suffered. I spent several years afterwards seeking worldly connection. I wanted emotional support and Satan used that to slowly and subtly draw me away from Jesus.

But Jesus never let me go. He drew me back to Him, and I am not going to fall for that again.

I know that I am a child of God. I know I am not alone. And I know God cares about what I am going through.

I may not know how this situation will end, but I know Jesus will never leave me.

I Am Not Alone

While Satan would love for us to believe that we are alone, we can know we aren’t.

“Way back when” I knew Jesus was with me, but that wasn’t enough for me because Satan tricked me into believing Jesus wasn’t real enough.

But Jesus is real.

Instead of focusing on what has me emotionally broken, I need to shift my focus to the One who heals me. The One who hears me. The One who holds all things in His hands.

Because I know that Jesus is with me and He is for me.

Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

And more than that, if God gave up His own Son for us, “how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (vs 32)

We can count on Jesus, no matter what we are going through, and no matter what’s coming.

Take that Satan.

What About You?

Have you ever felt emotionally alone? Like no one could understand what you were going through, or like Jesus wasn’t enough? Share your thoughts, experiences, or encouragement with us in the comments below.

*Originally posted March 29th, 2018 on Candidly Christian