Lee Warren - Single Servings: 90 Devotions to Feed Your Soul

Single
Servings

2005 by Lee Warren

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3326-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked AMP is taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture marked NCV is taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

To Mom, for believing in me.

To Dad, for listening to me.

To Phil Kayser, for preparing me.

To Joy, for believing in my writing before I did.

To Vicki, for helping me clarify my message.

To my friends, for cheering me on.

Contents

Part 1
Community

H ave you ever experienced the loneliness of a solitary Saturday night? Anything you dofrom renting a movie to reading a good bookseems to magnify your feelings. Nobody is there to laugh with you during the comical parts of the movie. Nobody is there to listen to you read a passage from a book that moved you.

We all desire to connect with other peopleto be loved, to share in the lives of others, and to have others share in our lives. God made us relational beings. To function properly, we need to be in right relationship not only with him but also with each other.

The problem is, our security-conscious, privacy-guarded, fast-paced society doesnt allow us to expand our community easily. We often dont know our next-door neighbors name, let alone the rest of the people who live in our neighborhood. Weve isolated ourselves by design.

In our seclusion, pangs of loneliness shoot through our souls, demanding that we search for someone who cares about us. Those pangs can hurt, but they are not inherently bad. They tell us that we need communityboth with God and with other humans. The pangs remind us that weve spent too much time by ourselves.

For singles, the danger is thinking that the only way to get past this sense of loneliness is to find a potential spouse. However, the Bible points us to other resources: to family, friends, and the body of Christcommunity.

In her book Feast of Life, Jo Kadlecek defines community: Community... is a coming together, a joining with other flesh and blood that all humans in all cultures in all times of history have found critical for their very existence. It is not merely coexisting beside another person, with no interaction or relation.[]

For the next ten days, lets explore what biblical community looks like so that the next time feelings of loneliness threaten to overwhelm us, well be equipped from the Scriptures to handle them.

The Need for Others

The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

Genesis 2:18

C armens first Christmas as a single mother was incredibly difficult. Happy couples were everywhereat church, shopping malls, and every party she attended. As the holidays loomed ever nearer, with increasing dread she faced the thought of being alone.

Carmens struggle with loneliness isnt uncommon for single people.

Singles know Genesis 2:18 well, dont we? We read it, nod our heads in agreement, and ask, Where is my helper? and If it is not good for man to be alone, then why am I? However, Adams situation was different from our own because he was the only human being on the planet at the time. He was literally alone.

Thats not something that we have to experience today. The world is full of people who want contact with others. Sometimes singles think that the only way we can overcome loneliness is to find a spouse. Instead, we should realize that people all around us are seeking connection with someone. While it is certainly possible to feel alone in a crowd, we wouldnt if we were more willing to turn to someone in the crowd and interact.

Churches and many civic groups offer chances to interact with people. Every church Ive ever been involved with offers Bible studies and fellowship opportunities. Hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons are full of people who would love to have someone to talk to on a regular basis.

Heres what Carmen did: My solution was to reach out to other single-parent families and invite them to my home for an open house. Families were invited to stop by between one and five oclock on Christmas Day and bring something to share. What a great day! People came early and stayed late.

Carmen didnt wait to find a community; she created one.

DIGGINGDEEPER INTOGENESIS2:18

1. List two or three groups or organizations youve considered joining.

2. How often do you initiate conversations with strangers?

3. What barriers do you experience to starting a conversation?

4. Next time you are at a mall or party or anywhere that brings people together, watch how people interact. Find one person who seems relaxed talking with strangers and identify the things he or she says.

5. Name one thing you can do to meet your need for community that would also meet the needs of other singles for community.

Finding Community

God sets the lonely in families.

Psalm 68:6

K ing David knew something about loneliness when he wrote this psalm. In his youth, he was a shepherd. No doubt he spent countless hours in the field without any human contact. Then, after God chose him to be king of Israel, David spent a lot of time on the run from King Saul, who wanted to kill him.

Yet God was at work in Davids life long before he first hid from King Saul. After David slew Goliath, King Saul wanted to speak with the young shepherd. When their conversation ended, King Sauls son, Jonathan, became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself (1 Sam. 18:1). God created a close bond between David and Jonathan that David would rely upon again and again.

Even though David had a family, they wouldnt be able to help him during his loneliest times while hiding from the king. But in Gods providence, Jonathan knew King Sauls every move, because he lived with him, and consequently was able to not only keep David safe but also bring him companionship when he needed it the most.

You and I dont live in caves and arent on the run from a king who wants to take our lives, but we know how it feels to be lonely. Loneliness can make us