Category Archives: loneliness

Elijah Had Some Issues

May 7, 2012 · by · in believer, confusion, depression, despair, devotional, difficulties, discipleship, God, grace, life lessons, loneliness, mental illness, personal comments, spiritual warfare, understanding

Then Elijah walked for a whole day into the desert. He sat down under a bush and asked to die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he prayed. “Let me die. I am no better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:4 Poor Elijah.  He was bold and heroic, taking on the enemy at Mt. Carmel.  A [...]

Growth in the Troughs of Life

March 13, 2012 · by · in affliction, Bible promises, brokenness, C.S. Lewis, confusion, depression, despair, despondancy, difficulties, fear, Jesus Christ, life, Linda Kruschke, loneliness, storms, will of God

This post has been floating around in my head for almost two weeks now, and I had fully intended to post it here at Broken Believers last weekend, but just didn’t get it done. In retrospect, learning of the great trough our dear brother Bryan is going through, I realize that either I should have [...]

Loneliness and Depression Are Best Friends

February 10, 2012 · by · in believer, brokenness, brothers, depression, discipleship, isolation, Jesus Christ, loneliness, mental illness, personal comments, Serving Mentally Ill Christians, spiritual lessons, understanding, Very helpful

Depression and loneliness walk hand-in-hand.  When one of them pays a visit, the other is ready to join in.  Often when we try to deal with our loneliness we’ll find depression just around the corner waiting. How ironic is this? Depressed people tend to suffer in silence and isolate themselves from the outside world. When [...]

The Corrosiveness of Social Anxiety

September 30, 2011 · by · in anxiety, isolation, loneliness, medications, mental illness, Serving Mentally Ill Christians, understanding, Very helpful

“In any social situation, I felt fear. I would be anxious before I even left the house, and it would escalate as I got closer to a college class, a party, or whatever. I would feel sick in my stomach-it almost felt like I had the flu. My heart would pound, my palms would get [...]

The Ultimate Loneliness

September 6, 2011 · by · in believer, christlikeness, devotional, difficulties, discipleship, faith, helpful, Jesus Christ, loneliness, personal comments, Serving Mentally Ill Christians, social withdrawl, spiritual lessons, understanding, Very helpful

  “I lie awake. I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.”  Psalm 102:7, NCV   ”The first time I defended myself, no one helped me; everyone left me. May they be forgiven.”      2 Timothy 4:16, NCV ___________________________________ The Bible is very sensitive and aware of the difficulties of loneliness.  Many in its pages, [...]

Psalm 42, The Message for the Frazzled

September 1, 2011 · by · in believer, Bible promises, depression, despondancy, discipleship, God, humility, Jesus Christ, loneliness, personal comments, Psalm study, psalms, Serving Mentally Ill Christians, steadfastness, understanding, Very helpful, weakness, wisdom, worship

This particular Psalm is often used by Christian therapists quite often in session.  It strikes a wonderful chord for those afflicted with mental illness and the myriad of issues we all have to deal with. For me personally, it is a powerful anti-depressant and reading it cleanses me.  I copied this selection from Eugene Peterson’s “The [...]

The Curse of Social Isolation

July 1, 2011 · by · in church life, depression, isolation, loneliness, mental health, mental illness, personal comments

Quite a few studies now out, revealing the reality of social isolation.  It seems more and more people are veering away from social contact. A Duke University study found that Americans are choosing to become more solitary than ever. Many are eschewing all relations all together.  This is a problem. I’ve seen some of the statistics– fully 25% of [...]