I said recently that my writing might be coming to an end. My husband and I prayed about this and we believe that we heard from the Lord that I have been called to write in these last days – but that I must listen carefully for His voice when I need to rest.
A reader of my articles wrote to me today and ended her email with something so precious and true – I knew that the Lord had moved on her heart to send it to me. Here it is:
The Loneliness of the Christian
by A. W. Tozer
The Loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.
The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding cause them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.
The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.
He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.
It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.” source
When I finished reading this heartfelt teaching from Tozer, I broke down in tears. Not from sadness but from joy that God had seen my state of extreme loneliness, and because He loves me as He does; He directed this sister in Christ to send me such truth and comfort.
It felt like a hug from God.
But then I noticed something even more precious. A. W. Tozer had bolded this sentence:
“It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God.” And he ends with this:
“His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.”
Brethren, I truly cannot express what these words from A.W. Tozer meant to me. My husband and I have not had a church home in quite a while. I have talked about the things which happened in various churches so I do not need to write them again.
But this I will say: In most churches of which we became a part – even when the preaching was sound and thorough, I did feel so alone in the midst of most in the congregation. I knew that most found me hard to be around, and I knew that I was ostracized by many for being too zealous – too serious for the things of God. I wanted to tell others what Jesus had been doing in my life.
Of course there were a few who shared my zeal for our Savior, but that was the exception and not the rule.
I knew that I was considered by many to be a “Jesus freak’ and that is so very sad to even think about. We were there to worship our Redeemer, our Savior, our Jesus! So yes, I experienced the words of Tozer in the midst of the congregation.
But recently I have pondered this loneliness and have spoken to God in prayer about it. I have come to Him and just sat quietly in my sadness. Those are the sweetest times, not just for me, but for our Lord as well. I find in His presence the peace that does pass all understanding.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
” And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7) KJV
I realize that NOTHING can replace my time with Him. Not even the most godly saint – although it is so glorious to share my heart with such people, it cannot come close to talking with my Lord and Savior who ever waits for me to finally turn to Him in my anguish.
As we walk this earth as children of God, it is inevitable that we are at times “wounded” and the most stinging of these wounds seems to come from the brethren. We are still battling our flesh. We all make mistakes. It will not be until we receive our Glorified bodies that we will finally be free from sin and hurt and pain.
I have always loved this song by Twila Paris:
I pray for the reader that this has somehow helped you in your struggles.
It won’t be long now, and know that He NEVER takes His eyes off of you.
Shalom b’Yeshua
MARANATHA!
Reblogged this on Truth2Freedom's Blog.
Amen!
Just two days ago I was sharing my similar journey of loneliness with one of the few like-minded Christian friends that I have. This article you’ve written is an encouraging message from the Lord to me. ♥ Thank you so much.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – KJV “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
I absolutely adore our precious brother A.W. Tozer. He has so often been a comfort as well as an inspiration to me. I too have found the same loneliness spoken of in Tozer’s writings, yet it is the one burden that lifts me to the throne room of our glorious King and Savior, Jesus Christ. It truly is the catapult, if you will, that He uses in these last of the last days, to draw the faithful to Him for that beautiful ‘Emmaus Road’ experience that I believe all of the lonely watchers long for in the deepest resources of their hearts. Thank you for this lovely reminder of His faithfulness in drawing near to His own. It has been said of David that he was a man after God’s own heart, and I believe that THIS is what the Scripture refers to, what Tozer and Geri and so many of us are experiencing. Praise be to Jesus, the friend that sticks closer than a brother! Amen.
Thank you for posting this! I am walking in this right now in my life. I too have stopped attending churches as like you, the Holy Spirit would show me things that were so wrong in the church that I had never seen before or never even noticed how wrong it was. It makes it hard to walk into the churches today. I have lost so many friends (Christian friends mostly) since I have walked this deeper walk with the Lord. It it the loneliest road I believe I have ever walked before. Again thank you for this article, I came upon it at the time I so needed it most.
This is so true, Geri. I’m going through a very similar thing and can only find false teachers and those that are seeking profit from teaching a very twisted and sinister version of “modern christianith” (lower case intentional”) . I seek a companion, friend, teacher, and when I reach out to a church, all I find is a building and more isloation and lonliness. When I offer my talent and educated expertise to the church they shun me because I have no money, and I see wealthy preachers living well beyond the means of even the more well off members of the congregation.
I understand that when God appoints you to preach, you are to earn your living by doing so, and I understand that the preacher must have a decent and dependable car so as to be able to travel to minister to his flock, but I don’t understand them living in mansions with housekeepers, groundskeepers, new car every year that is, shall we say, ‘far from modest transportation’, I see luxury cars and incomes in excess of 100K per year, crooked charities in the name of Christ, etc.
I have found some research on this and feel that you have much more expertise in your writing, which I find very moving, and I feel that you can do something with this research. I feel strongly that this is something you can and should dig into for your readership.
Don’t quit, take a breather but if God wants you to continue this work, well, continue and remember, the world will hate us for our belief in and testimony of Jesus Christ, Son of God Most High.
exposing the Word Faith/Prosperity Gospel false teachings
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/word-faith.html