Can we talk about loneliness going into the Holiday Season?
While you will find stores manufacturing the perfect Christmas image, they don’t offer peace on earth, something our soul longs for. No relationship fulfills you the way God does. So what do we do with this loneliness, anxiety, and depression that haunts us at the most magical time of the year?
Maybe there’s an empty seat at your table because of loss, misunderstanding, or estrangement. Perhaps you have a seat filled in body but not in spirit. Your partner could be there with you but feel a thousand miles away, or maybe you are like me, wishing someone was there saving a spot beside them just for you.
This time of year can be challenging for everyone. I’m sure of it. I had a deep conversation with a young girl at our local coffee shop and learned about her high-functioning anxiety and depression. She suffers from low self-esteem. She isn’t an adult yet. This is commonplace.
We can’t bottle this inside like the Mentos and Coke experiment, just waiting for the day we explode or are plagued by thoughts of abandonment. Every. Single. Day.
It’s because we aren’t enough. We aren’t enough on our own.
But He is enough. Study Psalm 40, Hebrews 10: 1-18, and I Peter 2:24.
“In glorious light of the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus, let’s lay our striving down. May any good thing we offer simply flow from the joy of a heart that is eternally redeemed and forever thankful.”
The subject of loneliness and this beautiful family have little to do with each other, but I think this is the ideal picture that we hold ourselves accountable to. Today, I’m being vulnerable with you and hope it touches someone who reads this. You are not alone.
It’s a Season for thankfulness, and I think when we focus on what has gone well in our lives, that light casts out the darkness.
List five things you are thankful for, thank God for them, and see if this changes your perspective.
Wishing you peace and joy in this Season,
xoxo Kimberly Nicole
