I was reading your blog. About what you said about being alone and feeling lonely. Girl, can I just say that I completely understand. And you know, some of my loneliest days were when I was a cell leader. Q told me once that the road of leadership is often a very lonely one. How very true. And I know that every other person, at some point in his or her life, has felt that way too. As "unholy" as this may sound, I think that simply saying, "God is always there", is insufficient. Because I know when people say that to me, it doesn't alleviate the feeling of isolation and despair. At the same time, we do tend to take God's omnipresence for granted. And I say 'omnipresence' as opposed to 'manifest presence'. Just a thought - maybe sometimes we have to be lonely to realise our dependence on God. Perhaps it's in the times of loneliness that our relationship with the Lord deepens in intimacy and maturity. If we were never lonely, we'd never be so painfully aware of our need for the Comfortor. I would say, take this opportunity to fall in love all over again with the Father.

I do think loneliness is essential. It's essential for growth and spiritual maturity. And I don't mean just physical loneliness where there's no one else around. I mean an emotional loneliness, a spiritual loneliness. Some sort of a desert experience. All great men and women of God have gone through it. And I think what distinguishes them from the rest is that they came out the better for it. They grabbed the opportunity to take a chance with God. They hung in there.

And you know what the best thing is? This loneliness, it will not last forever. This too, shall pass.