From the Pulpit: Loneliness
God never meant for people to be alone. I think that’s been pretty evident over the last five years or so. An APA poll in 2024, 30 percent of U.S. adults reported feeling lonely once a week, while 10 percent said they felt lonely every day. That stat skyrockets if we target the 18-26-year-olds.
Loneliness is not a new issue and God doesn’t desire it. He said that specifically and he says it again through Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4 (read that on your own). There, he speaks about the detriment of loneliness but also the amazing blessings of friends, family, and/or spouse.
Note these key points:
More gets done when two people work well together than if one person works alone. As Solomon writes, there is a better return on labor. Essentially, he is saying that teamwork is a great blessing. Two or more people working together toward a common goal can bless you with encouragement through the work, accountability to remain faithful to the goal, and someone to celebrate with when the goal has been reached.
Help and assistance can come from friends, family, or a spouse. Solomon writes, if one person falls down, it is a blessing to have someone else there to help them up again. That’s certainly true physically, but it is true on a bigger level, too. If you are going through a difficult time in life, it is a wonderful blessing to have someone who listens, who cares, and to have someone that can lift you up again when you are feeling low.
Companionship and intimacy come from sharing things with someone else. There are physical and emotional benefits to togetherness. Solomon says – how can you keep warm alone, but two can keep each other warm.
Solomon’s final benefit to having friends, family, and/or a spouse, is security. You have security when you have people around you that love you and care for you. Solomon says it in a physical sense, that it is easier to defend yourself with two or more people. Companionship has great physical benefits, listen to this list: reduced stress levels, improved heart health, enhanced immune system, increased longevity, better sleep quality, and several more.
There is one more detail to call our attention to. It’s a well-known verse, it’s the last verse of our section. It goes, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
The question is … three strands? All throughout this section, it speaks about two people, so where is the third strand?
No matter your situation in life, no matter what’s going on, there is someone who has promised to ALWAYS be with you. Here was God’s promise to the disciples – “surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” You are never alone!
God has saved you from your sins. He preserves you and protects you. He loves you more than anyone else in your life possibly could. He wants you to live life knowing that you are not alone, that he is with you. And he wants you to be connected to other people, too, because a cord of THREE strands is not easily broken.
