Abandoned, no more.

Our generation more than any other tends to feel isolated and lonely. This means more of us are craving for real connections, healthy friendships, true love. It is an inconceivable reality in a global village connected by tech and media more than any other age. But it is true nonetheless.

No matter how advanced the world becomes, human needs – like love, acceptance, belonging and significance – still persist. Media cannot substitute these even though human interaction continues to reduce. What kind of disconnected world do we live in when people marry androids? Of the 7 billion people in the world, do we not find even one with whom we can meaningfully connect? Sobering, but true. This is a genuine need and problem in today’s world.

Feeling separated, isolated, lonely and rejected is painful. And as much as I’ve heard some say, “I don’t need anyone”, “no matter what they say, it doesn’t affect me”, at the end of the day, it is being known, accepted and loved, that makes life worth living. When our life has context in someone else’s, there’s suddenly significance to all we do. Chasing wealth, popularity, and significance in one’s own self and for one’s own self, just leaves them feeling the bitter pain of meaninglessness at the end of the race.

In Isaiah 50, the people of Israel felt separated from God. They felt that God had abandoned them. But this is how God replies through the prophet.

“This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.” Isaiah‬ ‭50:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God explains that the pain of abandonment that they are sensing is because of the separation caused by their own choices and lifestyle which is sinful. It’s like the laws of the land that are meant to protect and preserve people – but when we break the law, painful things begin to happen – like getting arrested, punished, hurting others. This comes by one’s own choice.

Interestingly, God’s image of choice to explain his relationship with his people, is the image of marriage. Marriages are probably the biggest way one experiences closeness, intimacy and love in this world. Each family, a unit. As a father, I know that no matter how I am treated outside, no matter how many things are going wrong, coming back to my wife and kids is probably the one thing that makes me feel like the richest man in the world. Because it’s home.

So why would God use this picture to explain his relationship with his people? Could it be that God wants us to experience what true “home” feels like – the place of being completely known, fully loved, accepted and belong?

Jesus used the picture of home in the promise he made to his followers:

“There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am. You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.”” John‬ ‭14:2-4‬ ‭GNB‬‬

In other words, he is coming back to take us home. And he says, there’s room for everyone! He says “You know the way to this place.” And later in verse 6 explains that He is the way to this place, the way to the Father, the way home.

But even further, Jesus says, we can find a place to stay in him i.e. in an intimate relationship with Him.

“So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine.”‭ John‬ ‭15:4‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Did you notice the terms – united, intimate, take you to myself, be where I am in God’s vocabulary? The longings our generation feels for connection are there by design – because we were meant to experience what real love looks like, what it feels like in acceptance and how it is lived out in belonging and significance.

And it all begins by first experiencing it in the One who is the source of love, the very definition and personification of love – Jesus himself. One of his names is Emmanuel – God with us. Never to leave us.

He is with you in your pain.

Look up today and say it out, “I am no more abandoned. I am loved and accepted, I belong to my Maker and my Saviour.” Even if you feel disconnected with the rest of the world, remember you have a place called home beckoning you.