Only the Lonely

Years ago, Roy Orbison recorded one of the great rock and roll classics entitled, “Only the Lonely.” A couple of the lines from the song were, “Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight. . . . Only the lonely know the heartaches I’ve been through.” That song resonated with a lot of lonely people who knew what it was like to be abandoned.

Maybe you have been abandoned—perhaps it was by your parents, your spouse, or your children. Or maybe you even feel that you have been abandoned by God Himself. There are many people who feel estranged from God. They feel alienated from Him. Even if they have everything they want in life, they may still face loneliness.

We read in John 5 of a man at the pool of Bethesda who was in a seemingly hopeless situation. He had been abandoned. He was uncared for. He was unable to help himself. He was a desperately lonely man.

In this account, we learn that Jesus changed the man’s life forever. It is a story that tells us how to change as well. But first, Jesus asked him a pointed question: “Do you want to be made well?”

In the same way, is there something you want changed in your life? Do you want to be made well? Maybe it is an addiction to a certain vice or a lifestyle you are trapped in. Maybe it is something you have tried to shake time and time again.

Jesus turned the course of this man’s life around forever. Jesus gave this man the ability to live a life free from loneliness and free from the power of sin. We can live that life too—with Him.