Loneliness is no fun...but there are times when the Lord takes you out of the hustle and bustle of "normal" life and woos you into a "desert" experience so lonely that you wonder if anyone will ever find you. Isolated, you feel "put on the shelf," as though you will never again be a part of the things that are happening around you.

Don't despair. God knows what He is doing. Even if you're in a very lonely place, God can still use you just as He used Jesus. One day, Jesus didn't want to be mobbed by the huge crowd, so he asked a leper whom He had just healed not to tell anyone but the priest what had happened. Instead, the man told the whole town. The Bible says that, "As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere" (Mark 1:45, NIV).

Do you feel that your life right now is being spent "outside in lonely places?" Perhaps it is, but remember that these lonely places, too, are part of God's training. For although He wants us to know how to be surrounded by people, He also, at times, protects us from the influence of people and keeps us alone with Him. Then, at the proper time, He will bring the sick and needy to you for ministry, even if you're in the loneliest place in the world!

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your comfort and encouragement when I'm in a lonely place. Don't let me become distraught or give in to despair because I feel isolated and alone, but instead, let me learn to take full advantage of this precious time of preparation to be Your bride. I'll await the time You will send hurting souls to meet me in even the loneliest places so they might receive Your truth and Your touch. In Jesus' Name, Amen.