Some of us are alone this Christmas and its so discouraging to be alone. In the Charlie Brown Christmas special; Charlie Brown checks his mailbox but there’s no Christmas cards for him. And he remarks, “I know no one likes me but why do we have to have a holiday to emphasize it!”
Statistics tell us that Christmas time is a very lonely time of the year for many people in America even though they are surrounded by family and friends. But if you’re lonely, what does God have to say to you? He wants to say first, “I understand exactly how you feel.” Jesus, the Bible says, “was tempted in all points as we yet he sinned not.” He understood every human emotion. There were times when Jesus was lonely. Even in the closing moments of His life when He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, knowing that the next day He would be crucified on the cross, He takes His three best friends. Even Jesus had a need for human companionship. He takes His three best friends — Peter, James, John — and says, “Tarry with me a while, while I sweat this thing out!” And they fell asleep on Him. Jesus comes back and says, “Can’t even you wait with Me an hour?” And He felt all alone.
How do you deal with loneliness? Normally we do the wrong things. People will try all kinds of things to overcome their loneliness. Some people will try being a workaholic. They think if they stay busy they’ll overcome their loneliness. They’ll work and then fall in bed late at night totally fatigued. They get up in the morning and they’re still lonely. Some people think they’ll cure their loneliness through things, materialism. They surround their life with beautiful objects — nice clothes, nice cars, nice art objects, a beautiful home. But you cannot purchase happiness. It doesn’t last. I could put you on a desert island and tell you that you could have every single thing that you want — anything. Except people. How long would you be happy? Not very long. Why do you think solitary confinement is the most devastating form of punishment. We were made for each other. Some people will try to overcome their loneliness by having an affair. Some people get drunk, take drugs, go to bars. Some people do nothing. They just sit around and have a pity party and say, “Poor me!” Loneliness will paralyze you if you let it.
A lot of our loneliness is really a spiritual vacuum. We have a God shaped vacuum in our lives and when we try to fill it with anything else besides God it’s like filling a round hole with a square peg. It doesn’t fit! But when you invite Christ into your life and ask His Spirit to fill you, He puts His presence in you, a presence that will never, never leave you. Some of you may be thinking, “Nobody loves me. Nobody cares for me. Nobody even knows I exist.” I know somebody who does. His names is Jesus Christ.