“But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” – Ecclesiastes 4:10b

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 11:24-25

Isolation is a tool of the enemy. He gets us alone where he can wreak havoc in our hearts and minds. But what gets us to that point? What is it that makes us wander off alone?

There are many reasons why we would become detached from people, too many, in fact, to list in this short paragraph. Some of us long to be accepted by others. So much so that we change who we are and compromise our walk in an effort to be on the socially accepted list. After a while the novelty wears off and all we are left with is the realization that we are phony and no one loves the REAL us. If they did then we wouldn’t have to carry on this charade in order to keep from being an outcast.

There are others who have been open and trusting in the past but unfortunately someone who represented Christianity to them, whether a leader, a friend, or more commonly a boyfriend/girlfriend, has hurt them very deeply, therefore tainting what it means to be a true Christ-like individual. The very thought of God brings with it bad connotations due to the negative effect that this “someone” had on their life in the past, which then keeps them away from church and even from people all together. A deep root of bitterness is all it takes for the enemy to render us powerless in the fight against him.

Still there are others who are lonely mainly because they’re just “different.” They may look or act different than the norm, which is sometimes difficult for others to overcome and see the child of God beneath what maybe a rough exterior. Sometimes the outward appearance has been set up as a defense mechanism to keep people from getting too close.

In other cases, maybe those individuals really do long to be in fellowship with the saints but they can’t quite break through the cliques that we have worked so hard to establish, and they don’t feel accepted because we have deemed them unfit for our companionship, merely because of cultural or personality differences.

God has created everyone in His image, and has given us our own unique quirks and abilities to allow the body of Christ to fit together beautifully. It is a challenge to relate to others who are different or to those who shut us out but God has called us to be knit together and He does not want anyone on the outside.

If you are someone who is content to be alone, please do not neglect the command of the Lord to be united in fellowship with other believers. If you are someone who has the opportunity to welcome an outsider then take the step to do so. By doing that we are building a strong foundation that will not be shaken by the enemy’s attacks.

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. – Ephesians 2:19-22