What does loneliness feel like to you?

Is it a solitary walk on an empty beach? Waiting for guests to arrive at your birthday party, but never hearing the doorbell ring? Checking your phone over and over again without getting that call or text you were waiting for?

Loneliness is a heavy emotion that can quickly lead to discouragement. You don’t need to be alone to feel lonely. Loneliness can burden your heart when you feel misunderstood, unheard, or unseen by those around you. You can feel just as lonely in an empty room as in a room full of people. And, for many of us, seasons of loneliness can last a long time.

The Bible tells us that God understands the emotions we feel. As our Creator, he knows the ins and outs of our hearts better than we do. But he also knows the feeling of loneliness from experience. When Jesus Christ took on our human flesh, he also shared our human nature, but without sin. That means that the Son of God experienced emotions like anger and grief. And, in the final moments of his life, Jesus experienced unfathomable loneliness as he bore our sin and received the punishment we deserved from his Father:

At about three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

Matthew 27:46 GNT

Through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the grave, our once-broken relationship with God and with others was restored when we put our faith in Christ. And because Jesus endured our punishment, we now have the unshakeable hope that we are never abandoned by God.

While we will still feel the sting of loneliness in this broken world, if we put our trust in Jesus, we will never experience the loneliness of separation from God. That means that even when we feel totally alone, God is still with us, and we can find peace and comfort in his Word.

In lonely moments, turn to these five verses from Scripture to refresh your heart with God’s promise of presence and care.

5 Verses to Remind You of God’s Presence

God remembers those who feel lonely.

God, who lives in his sacred Temple,
cares for orphans and protects widows.
He gives the lonely a home to live in
and leads prisoners out into happy freedom,
but rebels will have to live in a desolate land.

Psalm 68:5-6 GNT

God knows your heart.

O Lord, you know what I long for;
you hear all my groans.

Psalm 38:9 GNT

God promises to care for you.

My father and mother may abandon me,
but the LORD will take care of me.

Psalm 27:10 GNT

God invites you to express your loneliness to him.

Turn to me, LORD, and be merciful to me,
because I am lonely and weak.

Psalm 25:16 GNT

God promises to be with you wherever you go.

“Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the LORD your God, am with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9 GNT