Author: Sarah Lampman

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The Loneliest Place In The Universe

Dear Sister,

Sometimes loneliness feels like a deep, gnawing ache. Sometimes it feels like drowning. Either way, it’s one of the most painful experiences of this fallen world. A New Testament scholar once called it “the most dehumanizing thing one can ever experience.” So, my sister, my heart breaks for you. I hope to bring you some comfort.

The good news is that the pain of your loneliness communicates something that is theologically true: we were not made to be alone. Being human means being in relationship. This is because we are made in the image of God, who is relational in his very being. He is Triune. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit exist in an eternally blessed, overflowingly joyous and satisfied relationship of love with one another.

You, my sister, are created to also experience an eternally blessed, overflowingly joyous and satisfied relationship of love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the bad news is that there is a barrier to that relationship. It’s called sin.
You experience loneliness because man’s perfect communion with God was severed at the Fall on account of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against him. Everyone since then has experienced the pain and loneliness of that separation. Still more bad news is that your own personal sins have added to the dilemma. The Lord says in Isaiah, “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (59:2). And there is nothing you can do to make it right. It is the ultimate desperate and lonely situation.

But there is Good News: God, being rich in compassion and mercy, broke down the barrier, at great cost to himself. He laid all the sin that separated you from enjoying perfect fellowship with him upon the Son. And thus the cross became the loneliest place in the universe. Jesus, who had never once experienced the pain of separation from his heavenly Father cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) as his Father, having “eyes too pure to look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13) turns his face away from the One who “became a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Jesus became a curse. He was de-humanized so that we could be truly human again and live in relationship with the Triune God.

My sister, turn to the One who knows loneliness better than anyone else. Don’t be like me, who too often tries to heal the gnawing ache and the suffocation of loneliness by turning to distractions, food, or to fantasies about how marriage will cure it all. Turn to the One who is the cure, to the One who embraces you in perfect, satisfying love. We live in a fallen world and will still experience loneliness, but we take comfort in knowing that God, in Christ, has broken down the barrier. If you ever doubt it, look to the cross. May our Lord bring you his peace and comfort in your time of deep emotional pain.

Love, your sis,
Sarah

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.—Mark 15:38

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Feeding Our Joy

It’s hard maintaining joy in the Lord. My dear sister, you’re not alone when your heart grows cold toward the Lord, when you’re spiritually dry, when the fire only smolders—when the joy is gone. You are not alone.

But to comfort you, sweet friend, it’s not enough to say you’re not alone. Misery might love company, but company can’t change misery. I write to encourage and exhort you to find your joy again…by looking in the right places.

No one goes to McDonald’s to order fillet mignon. Yet this is what we do when we look for joy in the fleeting things of this world. Are you like me? Do you try to find joy in the comforts of life, in food, in silly distractions, in achievements, in the recognition of others, etc., etc.? I beg you to remember, sister, that joy is not found here. Let’s get out of McDonald’s.

What were we doing there anyway? We are daughters of the King! Our Father can afford to give us the best. And he already has. He has given us his only Son. We already possess the Living Water, the Bread of Life; everything else is just an imitation.

Your soul, oh beloved daughter of the King, refuses to be satisfied by the cheap junk food of worldly pleasures. The Spirit within you, the Spirit of Christ, craves the weighty, the transcendent, the beautiful, the true. You’re only truly satisfied by eternal things. Why is this so? Because you are a new creation and, like Christ, you’re deepest desire is for God. The weighty, the transcendent, the beautiful, the true, these all point us to God.

So sister, will you join me? Let’s stop this childish game of hide and seek; we know where joy isn’t found, so let’s stop looking there. Let’s stop gratifying our cravings for worldly pleasures. I’m sure you’ve noticed that giving in only creates a vicious cycle of stronger cravings, more frequent sin, and eventually, joylessness. Instead, let’s gratify the cravings of the Spirit within us for the things of God. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that this creates a happy cycle of stronger cravings, righteousness, and joyfulness.

Only feeding on Christ, only abiding in him can satisfy these cravings. John 15 tells us that abiding in Christ means depending on him for everything (including our joy) and obeying his commandments. We become satisfied and joyful when we feed on the food he’s given us for our soul. Oh sister, go head, please gratify your desires for the Word, for fellowship, for corporate worship, for time with the Lord, for good teaching, for good works. Trade in your junk food for real food and you will find joy.

And always remember, my dear sister, trust not in your own efforts to pull yourself out of the pit of joylessness. Humble yourself before the Lord. Admit you have not the joy he commands. Your faithful and loving Savior stands ready to embrace you in his arms, ready to draw you into his intimate presence and give you the joy you so long for. He is the very source of our joy, and he can never be taken away from us. His promises and steadfast love endure forever.

In Him,
your sis, Sarah