NOBODY CARES LIKE JESUS
Sunday, February 05, 2006
By Pastor Jim May
We live in a world where people can feel so alone, even in the middle of a crowd. Have you ever felt that way? Loneliness is one of the major causes of suicide because people just give up, thinking that no one cares, no one knows they exist and that a life that is filled with loneliness just isn’t worth living.
A "Ziggy" cartoon recently pictured the small, pudgy man, sitting alone in a boat, drifting toward a tunnel with a sign above the entrance that said, "Tunnel of Meaningful Relationships." The only meaningful relationship he was going to find in that tunnel was his relationship with the boat because no one was there to get in the boat with him.
A study by the American Council of Life Insurance reported that the loneliest group in America is college students. That’s surprising since everything we see that shows us college life is filled with partying and crowds of kid drinking and having a good time. But college kids aren’t the only ones who are lonely. The list that was compiled of lonely people also included divorced people, welfare recipients, single mothers, rural students, housewives, and the elderly. Loneliness knows no social boundaries.
To point out how lonely people can be, Chuck Swindoll, in one of his books, mentioned an ad in a Kansas newspaper. It read, "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00." Swindoll said, "Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before the person who put the ad in the paper was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything, including buying the ear of a stranger, for just a half hour of companionship"
Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of a grunge band called, “Nirvana”. He tragically took his own life in an act of suicide. Despite his widespread fame, great wealth and adulation as a rock star he grew terribly lonely and depressed. In the days leading up to his suicide one of his diary entries read: "Somebody, anybody, God help, help me please. I want to be accepted...I’m so tired of crying and dreaming, I’m so, so, alone."
In December 2000 a German woman living in the city of Marburg, died while at home in her flat. Ten months later her landlord forced open the door to the flat, concerned that she had paid no rent for as long time. It was only then that her body was discovered. It seems the woman had lost contact with her relatives and had no friends, and not even one concerned neighbor.
But this is not an isolated instance. Germany regularly has cases where a body is not discovered until weeks, months or even years after the person has died. In one case, a Hamburg man sat dead on his sofa in front of his television for five years before he was found.
Loneliness stalks the earth like a giant, deadly specter! People are taking their lives everyday because they just can’t stand the thought that they are all alone. In a world of nearly 6.5 billion people, there is not one who seems to care for them. They simply fell through the cracks of life and disappear in obscurity.
Sadly it’s not just the unsaved that will fall prey to loneliness, all of us are susceptible. Those who are born again are just as likely to become lonely as those in the world.
King David knew what it was to be lonely too. There were several low points in his life when David began to feel alone against the world.
Before he became king, David was being pursued by King Saul who was making every effort to kill David to prevent him from being the new king in Israel. In some of those times, when David was on the run for his life, loneliness would seem to overwhelm him. Though there many around him, he felt alone in his fight. It was at those times that some of the Psalms were written crying out to God for protection, for deliverance and for God to comfort him in those dark hours.
Another time when David felt alone was when his own son, Absalom was chasing him to kill him and take his throne by force. How much more lonely can we be than at those times when it seems that the ones we love the most have forsaken us or turned against us?
Even though David faced loneliness like everyone else does, he also found a way out of that loneliness. He didn’t commit suicide. Instead, he turned his face toward Heaven and learned to pray and trust God. David understood and depended upon the words that he would write in Psalms 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
How can you overcome loneliness? Even when no one else seems to care, and when no one seems to understand, and no one reaches out to you – that’s when we need to learn to lean upon Jesus.
There is a song titled “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus”. Listen to what the chorus of that song has to say: No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There’s no other friend so kind as He. No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. O how much He cared for me.
Aren’t you glad that you know Him! Aren’t you glad that Jesus cares! He watches over you and knows your every need. His love has no limits. His power knows no end. And Jesus will never leave you, nor forsake you.
There may be someone here right now, who is experiencing loneliness. You’ve wondered how you are going to make it through each day. In the late hours of the night and in the early hours of the morning, you have cried out to God for help.
Today I want to give you some encouraging news. Jesus Cares for You! You are not alone! Satan may try to tell you that no one cares, but he is a liar. Maybe your friends, your family, your neighbors, or even your brothers and sisters in the Lord haven’t reached out to you like they should have, but that doesn’t matter. All people can do is just put a band-aid on the loneliness. Loneliness is a spiritual thing and it takes the power of God to really break the chains that hold you. Your only real help will be in Jesus.
David found the answer to His loneliness. Let me share with you what he discovered that helped him get through the dark days of his life when it seemed that he would lose it all.
David came to understand just what Jesus meant when he would say in Matthew 28:20, "… lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Banner on the wall)
Psalms 139:1-18, "…O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."
David knew that God was ever watching over him and it helped him through the long, lonely hours of his life.
He knew that God knew what he was going through. God knew the causes of it all and God knew how to bring him out.
Like David, we need to know that God is always there for us, no matter what we face, where we go, or how lonely we may feel.
Sometimes it is easy for forget that we are not in the boat alone. Even though the world may see us floating in our boat, into the “Tunnel of Meaningful Relationships” alone, they can’t see that Jesus is in it with us. Sometimes you can’t see Him yourself. Sometimes you don’t feel His presence. Sometimes you wonder if God has turned His back on you for a while. Well, He hasn’t! He never takes his eyes off of you. Jesus knows your every move, your every thought, your every desire, your every pain and He knows what you are going through. Not only does He know what you’re facing, but He also has the power to bring you though it all victoriously.
I love that song that says, “The God on the Mountain is still God in the valley. When things go wrong He’ll make them right. The God of the good times is still God in the bad times, and the God of the day is still God in the night.”
God knows all about you and He cares, because He loves you. When you were no more than a gleam in parents’ eyes, He knew you. In God’s plan you were already formed long before your body began to grow in your mother’s womb. He knew who you would become and all that you would face before you ever drew your first breath in this life. He knew your beginning and your end and He has established all of your ways through life and determined your eternal destiny.
God loves all people. It is His desire that every man, woman and child in the earth would be saved and become one of His own dear children. Sadly, many will not accept that invitation, yet Jesus still loves them and gave His life for them too.
If you’re hearing this and you don’t know Jesus, you really can’t know what I’m speaking of until you come to Christ and accept his wonderful gift of salvation.
Even though God loves all men, there is a very special place in His heart for those who are His children. He watches over his own kids even more than a new mother watches over her newborn baby. That mother will watch with joy every time that baby smiles. She will do everything in her power to feed, clean and dress that baby, keeping it warm against the winter wind and cool in the heat of summer. She will go to the ends of the earth to provide for her baby. While she may see everyone else, and will tend to her family and cook the meals, and do everything she must to keep her household going, the first place here attention will be, will always be with that baby.
God is more than able to take care of all the events of the world, rule over the kings of the earth, guide the ways of man to accomplish his will, keep the universe intact, provide for the needs of all men everywhere, and still watch closely, as through a microscope, at what His children need. I’m so glad that I serve a God like that – A God who loves me above all else.
How much more will Jesus care for those who are his own! There is no depth, no height, no place at all where we can go where Jesus will not be there too. All through the long night of loneliness, Jesus is watching over you. When it seems that the world has come crashing in upon you, Jesus is still there with you, holding you up. When it seems that hope is gone, He brings new hope to you in the hour of need. And when it seems that no one cares, don’t ever forget that Jesus loves you and He is ever watching over you.
David ends his song to God with these words, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."
God’s desire for your life is that you have all the blessings you can handle and then some. He wants you to have an abundant life, spiritually and physically. He wants you to feel love, to know peace, to experience joy and happiness, and to be fulfilled in all that you do. How great is God’s love! How great is His provision!
Don’t let loneliness get you down. Don’t let the devil steal your joy! There is an abundance of love, companionship and joy in Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on Him. Focus on Him. Give your heart to Him and place your life in His hands. Jesus will see you through.
Do you know Jesus as your best friend? Have you invited Him to live in your heart? Today you can know Him as your Savior and your King, and from this day on, you can know Him as a friend that will stay with you to the end of this life and forever in Heaven.
Are you lonely? Look to Jesus. He will bring joy and companionship.
Are you sick? Look to Jesus. He will heal your sickness and diseases.
Are you tired and worn? Look to Jesus. He will give you rest.
Are you bound by habits? Look to Jesus. He will set you free.
Are you bound by chains of sin? Look to Jesus. He will break those chains and wash your sin away forever.
God desires only the best for you. David said that God’s good thoughts toward us are greater than the sand of the seashore.
The day will come when all us must face the end of our days. We will fall asleep in Jesus and David says, when we fall asleep in this life and open our eyes on the other side of the grave, we will find that Jesus is still there, watching over us.
What a great God we serve!
