Never Forsaken

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone."
Genesis 2:18a

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12

How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

The Lord made people in His own image, with many of the same attributes. We were created to live in relationship with one another, not solitary, lonely lives, but to interact with, bearing each other's burdens, sharpening each other, loving and accepting one another. In Genesis the Lord quickly realized that Adam needed company, saying "it is not good", and to me this means not healthy, not beneficial in any way, shape, or form.
Yet there are many who live solitary lives, and generally not as a matter of choice.
How does this happen, why does it happen? Jesus calls us to love one another, and yet human nature-the flesh- causes people to move towards a comfort zone, to hang out with people they know, have similar interests with, similar appearances, same hometown, age group, or other interests, and in so doing may unwittingly deprive themselves of establishing a robust and blessed relationship. From the other side, we may find ourselves in an unwelcome and uncomfortable solitary and lonely situation for a whole host of reasons: just moved to a totally new area, differences in age, occupation, shyness, fear of rejection, old wounds etc. We can both crave relationship and at the same time fear putting ourselves "out there"... Who wants to suffer the prospect of being hurt, dejected, rejected, feeling unwanted or unwelcome?
But someone has to take that first step. We are called to apply Matthew 7:12, what we can call the "Golden Rule", to do unto others as we would want to have done unto us.
Beloved, whether you are feeling lonely, or you know those who are lonely and have not reached out to those who are unfamiliar or different, today step forward, reach out, cast aside fears, doubts and misgivings...
Perfect Love casts out all fear.