God’s Lonely Servants

Moses said to the LORD, . . . “I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me.”
–Numbers 11:11, 14

If you ever struggle with loneliness, I want you to know that loneliness doesn’t have to be paralyzing. A. W. Tozer observed, “Most of the world’s great souls, if not all of them, have been lonely.” This is true of artists, leaders, explorers, and preachers. And in the Bible, we see that some of God’s greatest servants dealt with feelings of loneliness as well.

Think about Moses, who faced the loneliness of leadership as he shepherded the Israelites through the wilderness. In Numbers 11:14, he cried out to God, “I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me.” God brought seventy elders to help Moses, but the feeling of isolation remained because of the position Moses had been called to. If you’re a leader in your workplace, your church, or anywhere else, you know the loneliness that accompanies the weight of responsibility.

Think about David, who experienced loneliness after his sin with Bathsheba and when his son Absalom rebelled against him. In Psalm 25:16–18, he wrote, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.” Perhaps, like David, you understand the loneliness that comes from hurting somebody or being hurt by somebody.

Think about Jeremiah, who took a stand for God and was rejected by others. He delivered an unpopular message from the Lord, and his own people threw him in a cistern and left him for dead. In the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah said of himself, “I am the man who has seen affliction. . . . He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light” (3:1–2). But later, he declared, “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (vv. 22–23). Despite his loneliness, Jeremiah recognized God’s faithfulness, and he carried out the work God had for him.

God wants you to experience companionship. But even in the midst of loneliness, God is with you, He is working out His plan for you, and He can use you to advance His purpose in the world.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Moving from Loneliness to Companionship,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

A. W. Tozer, “The Saint Must Walk Alone,” April 29, 1956, audio, Tozer Talks, https://tozertalks.com/tozer-talks-157/.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.