Open Letter to the Lonely

Dear friend,

The world is not as it should be. I know that and you know that. We all seem to keep pretending because we are afraid. What are those little habits that you have that you engage in just to distract yourself from the pain?

I would smile at you, but you might not believe me. I hurt for you, my friend. I know how deeply loved you are, because I have found out just how much God loves me. "Oh dear, she's talking about God again, isn't she?" I can see you thinking.

You think you know him, but you have been lied to. He does not want us to die in our dark, lonely holes, but instead, He wants to free us from them. Would you let Jesus crawl into this pit with you and just sit there with you for awhile? Would you let Him be your friend in that place? Would you let Him listen?

Who has ever really listened to you? Who has ever really seen you? Have you felt continually misunderstood and unseen, the way I have? Even by those you love and who love you? Does it seem like no one is enough to fill you? Have you tried to find life in person after person, only to be continually disappointed? It's as if there's this part of you that no one else can seem to touch, and you want so badly for someone to meet you there, down in your core, that you try to fill the emptiness yourself with all kinds of things and people and experiences, and nothing seems to satisfy.

Do you know that kind of pain? Because I do.

And those people around you that you are trying to get life from, they probably do, too. And you can't fill them up, either. You are not alone...but we are all in a pretty hopeless mess, left to our own devices, wouldn't you say? A real pickle. All trying to suck life from each other like vampires.

I know that you have heard about the Bible, and that you might want nothing to do with it. I get that. The Bible has been misused in so many ways. I know you have seen the Christian bumper stickers and heard, "Jesus loves you," and then seen that person cut you off or talk about you behind your back. We Christians can be pretty hypocritical, and I want to apologize for anything I've done or anyone else in your life has done to keep you from knowing what Christ is really like, and who He really wants to be in your life.

I know your darkness seems all-consuming, my friend, my dear, dear friend, but there is a light that pierces the darkness. And there really is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And there really is a God who is love and who not only understands the deepest part of you, but created it in the first place.

You are not untouchable. You are NOT unreachable. You are NOT unlovable. In fact--and I know you might not want to hear about the cross, because Lord knows it's been misused, too--but in fact, there is a God who is such a passionate lover of you that He was willing to be killed so that you could be free of that prison you're sitting in.

How do I know? Because I have my own prison. Because I've seen the one who loves me, and He really has been freeing me. Because, when all my hope is gone, He really is the only hope for me. Because I have known what it is to be filled up in a way that lasts, to be met in that inner core of me...and because of Him, I want so desperately for you to be free, too. For you to know Him, which is to LIVE.

All of this may repulse you, and that is okay. Just, please, if you don't hear anything else, please hear this:

God loves you. For real, my friend.


He loves YOU.
He LOVES you.


He loves you.

It's not over. He loves you.