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How You Can Overcome the Pain of Loneliness
By Warren Olson
Julia, age 68, sits alone most evenings in her empty three-bedroom home. She still mourns the loss of her husband, who passed away almost four years ago. Her grown children have lives of their own and live several hours away in the city, so she rarely gets to visit them.
In her quaint, suburban town, friends are limited. More and more every day, she feels rejected, alone, and hopeless.
At times her loneliness feels almost unbearable…
There is a silent wave of despair called loneliness crashing into the lives of many senior adults in Americans today. And while our society freely talks about topics such as sex, drugs, and alcohol, the subject of loneliness is rarely addressed…even though the pain loneliness causes is very real.
People in our society tend to deal with loneliness in different ways. Some try to ward off feelings of loneliness by making as many friends as possible, by keeping busy, by purchasing new things, or by revisiting the past. Others just give up on life and settle for living with what feels like a disease without a cure.
But, as believers in Christ, we have hope! Scripture tells us very plainly that the thief's ultimate goal is to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ came so that we may live life to the fullest (see John 10:10)…even in the depths of loneliness!
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