Disconnection: The Fear of Being Alone | Dr. David Jeremiah

there's a power within you to help you overcome your most daunting challenges where could life take you if fear was not a factor are you ready to move from worry to confidence from anxiety to hope why be safe when you can boldly step into what's next [Music] it's time to move from fear to fear not [Music] hello i'm david jeremiah and it's time to move from fear to fear not outside of the fears concerning the global health crisis and the economy in the past year perhaps the most significant emotional struggle we have experienced is loneliness when we had to shelter in place many of us were left alone separated from family and friends whom we love the most being detached from our normal routines from church from school life celebrations and more has given us more alone time that is healthy to help us today we'll look to the apostle paul and study how god taught him four vital truths for living a full satisfying life i'll share those truths and more as we explore disconnection the fear of being alone on this edition of turning point are you in a place in your life where you need hope dr jeremiah wants to teach you how to move from fear to fear not in his book hope living fearlessly in a scary world in its pages dr jeremiah explores the top seven fears holding so many of us back as he shares practical lessons for facing down these fears learn to walk the path of hope and experience the providential power of god who as dr jeremiah explains still controls even the smallest details of your life discover strength and encouragement in hope by dr jeremiah yours for a gift of any amount and if you give 65 or more in support of this program dr jeremiah will send you in appreciation the living fearlessly set which contains his book his current teaching series what are you afraid of on your choice of cd or dvd and a correlating study guide plus the fear to fear not bookmark which will serve as a reminder to claim hope each day hope and the living fearlessly set yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of turning point today in appreciation of your viewership today dr jeremiah would like to give you the fear to fear not bookmark a powerful reminder containing scripture to help you travel each day down the path from fear to fear not receive the fear to fear not bookmark completely free when you contact turningpoint today now here is dr jeremiah with his message disconnection the fear of being alone actress anne hathaway confessed that loneliness is my least favorite thing about life the thing that i'm most worried about is just being alone without anybody to care for or someone who will care for me and josh whedon who's the director of the avengers says that loneliness is about the scariest thing in the whole world disconnectedness is the only way to describe a world where most people live in impersonal cities or suburbs where the internet replaces face-to-face conversation where the average job lasts only two years where people go from marriage to marriage and from state to state and it's true that more people are living alone today this really kind of surprised me in 1950 less than 10 percent of the american households were just one person but by 2010 27 percent of the households in america had just one person several months ago the los angeles times reported on a new and growing fear and phobia that is part of our disconnectedness this fear is called nomophobia have you heard of it it's the fear of being without your phone i'm not kidding i didn't make this up this is true there is a fear that people have of not having their phone you see the problem that we have in our culture today is that technology promises the comfort of connection without the demands of intimacy and it never keeps its promise as we read our bibles we discover that this connection is the first thing in the bible that god said this is not good isn't that interesting in genesis 2 18 the lord god said it is not good that man should be alone i will make a helper comparable to him the first man who ever lived on planet earth suffered the pain of being alone and the bible tells us the stories of many others along the way i think of noah who preached for 120 years and not one person was converted to the gospel he and his family alone were saved through the flood i think of hagar who got into domestic difficulty and ended up in the desert and if you ever read that story that's about the loneliest story you could ever read she's all by herself i think of abraham trudging up the mountain with isaac knowing that god has called him to sacrifice his own son and he doesn't understand it can you imagine the loneliness in his heart and in what i believe is the loneliest verse of the bible psalm 142 and verse 4 david says look on my right hand and see for there is no one who acknowledges me refuge has failed me no one cares for my soul the bible doesn't try to ignore the problem of being alone if god recognized it right out of the beginning of the book of genesis and we see it illustrated throughout the old testament we should not be surprised to discover it both in the new testament and then also in our own lives if i had to choose the person who illustrates what it means to be disconnected more than anyone else in the bible it would be the apostle paul that might surprise you because as you read paul's letters and as you learn about him in the bible you discover that paul was a real people person i'm always amazed that paul carried on such a vigorous life and such an incredible schedule and yet he knew so many people by name in the book of romans for instance he mentions 35 different people by their names having known them and known something about them here in the fourth chapter he mentions 17 people by name and if you go back to the first chapter he adds another two so here in this little four chapter a letter he mentions 19 people by name and so we know that paul is not just a recluse he's not just somebody who doesn't like people and therefore he experiences loneliness no he was a very relational person but when we meet him in the fourth chapter we meet a lonely man and we begin by understanding something of the disconnection of isolation paul has been charged with sedition he's come before caesar and he's been sentenced to prison it was not his first time to be in prison as you know paul had a reputation of going into a city and preaching in the synagogue and either if you wanted to find paul he would either be in the synagogue or in prison he was in one of two places because he always was in trouble but he's in prison now and here are his words from the fourth chapter of second timothy describing the fact to timothy that he knows his time is limited that he is just about at the end of his journey he writes in verse six the time of my departure is at hand paul knew that he was about to die and as he waited for his execution he was disconnected and alone he was as we learn from history incarcerated in the mammar team prison in rome and he was isolated and alone this man who loved people who knew so many of them by name spending his last days all alone and he illustrates the disconnection that we have in our culture today we live in a lonely world did you know that here's paul isolated in this prison but if you read the record here in the fourth chapter you will discover even more for he's not just experiencing the disconnection of isolation but he's also experiencing a different kind of aloneness a different kind of being disconnected which i have preferred to call the disconnection of infidelity if you read through the last verses of 2 timothy 4 it's like reading a litany of desertion and departure of the 17 friends that paul mentions six are simply mentioned as being in another place look down at your bibles and you will notice that crescens is in galatia titus is in dalmatia tychicus is in ephesus carpus is in troas erastus is in corinth and trophemus is in miletus why did i read all of those names and where they are simply to say that they're not with paul these are his friends he calls them by name they have been with him for a period of time but they're not with him now of the 17 friends six of them are just somewhere else without explanation actually two of paul's asian friends had defected earlier according to chapter one in chapter one of second timothy we read this you know that all those in asia have turned away from me among whom are phy jealous and hermogenes and when you come to the tenth verse of the fourth chapter of second timothy you are introduced to a man by the name of demas for demas has forsaken me said paul having loved this present world and has departed for thessalonica now we are often tempted to demonize demas but he did not necessarily depart from his faith he departed from paul and apparently when paul was put into prison demas who had been one of his close associates didn't want any part of this kind of intensity in his christian experience he wanted a more convenient and comfortable and less threatening kind of christianity and so he left paul and he went to a safer place in thessalonica but his departure was very painful for the apostle apparently paul had discipled demas perhaps spent hours building into his life thought he was a trusted friend and disciple who would stay with him through thick and thin but when the pressure was on demas went for the high country and paul said he forsook him and demas wasn't the only one for if you look at the 16th verse of the fourth chapter you continue to build the case for paul's loneliness he said at my first defense no one stood with me but all forsook me may it not be charged against them we experience sometimes the disconnection of isolation some of you know what paul was going through somebody you trusted somebody you believed in somebody you cared about somebody in whose life you have spent hours building walks away and leaves you with no explanation isn't it true that sometimes the people we feel like we're closest to can end up hurting us the worst and then paul said there was one more thing that added to his absolute total disconnectedness in prison and that's what i've called the disconnection of interference notice verses 14 and 15 where we meet this guy named alexander paul says alexander the coppersmith did me much harm may the lord repay him according to his works beware of him for he has greatly resisted our words now we don't know much about alexander we're not even really sure which alexander this is there are a number of them in the bible we do know he's a coppersmith but the bible says he did much harm to paul actually the sentence reads like this he informed many evil things against me and most scholars believe that what happened with alexander was he turned to be a judas against paul just like judas had to betray the lord jesus alexander gave paul away to the authorities and made it necessary for them to come and get paul and that's why he was rearrested for the second time and put in prison but paul seems to be more concerned not about what alexander did but by what he was saying apparently alexander was not believing the truth and accepting the words of the gospel and paul describes him as being a very dangerous man who has interfered with the gospel and he says to timothy don't get involved with him he's not somebody you want to hang out with look back over this and you will see that here is a disappointed man this is not the way you want paul's life to end this man who has given us the new testament in many respects so much of it this man who was the great missionary evangelist to establish churches all over asia minor this man who many think was the greatest man who walked on this earth apart from the earthly walk of jesus christ is ending his life in a foul dungeon bereft of friends and being treated as an enemy by alexander so how do we help ourselves when we find ourselves in a similar situation obviously not with the same outward circumstances but with the same inward disconnectedness in our life what clues can we figure out from this passage and i'm pretty excited about this because it's interesting to me that this book we call our bible is one of the most practical books you will ever read and if you just read it carefully you will find things there that just amaze you now in this passage of scripture we have painted the picture of where paul is now let's notice what he did about his situation and in doing this we discover four or five things about being disconnected that we can transfer into our own lives in verses 9 11 and 21 we learn that paul is putting out an alert he is saying we need companionship when we're alone listen to his words be diligent to come to me timothy come quickly get mark and bring him with you verse 21 do your utmost to get here before winter and paul recognizes this and he cries out for his companions he's unwilling to spend these last days all by himself with just luke as his companion and he says timothy i want you to get here as quickly as you can bring mark with you and try to get here before winter the bible is filled with reminders of the truth that people need people so paul reaches out first of all and he asks for companionship and then notice verse 13 he says i need you to bring the cloak that i left with corpus at troas when you come not only do we need companionship we need compassion isn't it true that when we are ministering to those who are alone it's not just about being with them it's about noticing what their needs are and trying to meet them and here's paul listen to me here's where he is he's in this prison this cold prison with just his undergarments on and winter is coming and he knows he cannot survive this winter if he doesn't have some warm clothing so he asks for his cloak whenever we're in a world that is filled with loneliness all we have to do is look around and we see every illustration of it you can imagine somebody you know today is alone and they need some help maybe you need to take a pie to them or some cookies or take them to dinner or whatever but it's not just being with somebody it's being with somebody and caring about that person when you're with them thirdly in the same context we read that we need courage notice verse 13 paul says to timothy when you come bring the books especially the parchments which were animal skin precious vellum codices and the difference between the two was probably that the books were made of papyrus and these roles could have included any number of things like paul's roman citizenship papers or correspondence some people think it was just extra writing space for paul to continue his writing because you do know he wrote epistles from prison that's why we have the prison epistles and the parchments were probably paul's copies of the old testament scriptures and maybe some of the writings of jesus when paul was isolated he said would you please bring me my books if you are a book lover like i am you get this if i'm going to have to be alone at least give me my books and especially the book the bible something happens when you are consigned to loneliness whether it's in the hospital or for some other reason and you are able to have an opportunity of protracted study and meditation i say this to people and they look at me like they don't know what i'm talking about and so let me ask this question have you ever gotten lost in the bible i know some of you get lost regularly in the bible when i tell you to turn to a place but i'm not talking about that lostness i'm talking about getting lost in the scripture where you just get into the word of god and before you know it time has elapsed and you aren't even aware of it when i was going through my about with cancer years ago some of you know i was preaching during most of the time i was in treatment and if you ever have had that disease or been around somebody that does it's kind of like background noise in your head you can try to think about other things but it's pretty hard to keep from thinking about that and sometimes i would get to my desk and i knew i had to get a message ready for church and all i could think about was did my skin go all right is something going to be okay and what you know and i would just have to get in my chair and say by the grace of god i'm going to get over this hump some days i had to just take my pen and start writing out the scripture to prime the pump but i want to tell you something friends when you get over the hurdle and you get engaged you can lose yourself in the study of the word of god it's like an island of joy in the midst of the challenges i can see paul in the few hours of light that he had from the opening in his cell pouring over the words of jesus and the scriptures of the old testament and in the midst of his dire circumstances finding joy in the truth of god when we are disconnected we need companionship and we need compassion and we need courage from the word of god but here is the here's the pinnacle of what we need we need christ and notice what paul says in verses 17 and 18 but the lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the message might be preached through me and that all the gentiles might hear and the lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom to him be glory forever and ever paul said yes i've been deserted by all my friends demas has forsaken me alexander's against me all these other people have left me i'm here alone with luke but i want to tell you something i'm not alone when i stood before caesar and everyone had gotten out of the territory the lord jesus christ was with me some people believe jesus actually showed up personally and was standing there in the courtroom with paul but whether he was or not he was there and he will be there for us when we cry out to him in our moments of loneliness jesus himself experienced this very thing when he realized that his disciples had run out on him we read his words in john 16 32 he says and yet i am not alone because the father is with me here's what i want you to know men and women today however alone you may feel you are never alone if you're a christian almighty god is with you his spirit indwells you and his son the lord jesus christ is with you every moment you say well i i'm not aware of it you know how you can become aware of it when you study the word of god and you begin to hear the word of god you become aware of the presence of god in your life that's how it works do you remember the comment we made at the beginning that the first thing god was not pleased with was that man was alone he said it is not good that man shall be alone and adam and eve had to be alone even after they were together because of their sin they were together as husband and wife and then they sinned and they were cut off from god and they were separated because of their sin and the disconnection of the garden of eden ultimately led to another more profound disconnection that took place when jesus died on the cross and we hear him on the cross crying out my god my god why have you forsaken me the purpose of the forsakenness of jesus was so that you and i would not have to stay disconnected from god because we are sinners and we are and we have nothing to offer to god in ourselves we are sentenced to death the bible says the wages of sin is death that's disconnection but god came here and sent his son jesus to the cross and when jesus went to the cross he suffered our disconnection for us so that we could be connected with god forever and because he died on the cross and paid the penalty for all of our sin yours and mine the sin of everyone in the world and because he was the infinite son of god his death was an infinite death equal to the death for everyone now he comes to us and says you are disconnected from the father but i have come to build a bridge between you and the father and that bridge is the cross of jesus christ and if you will walk over that bridge by faith and put your trust in my son jesus christ you will never ever ever have to be disconnected again isn't that true [Applause] [Music] if you have never connected with god through jesus christ this is a moment to do that you don't want to be disconnected from god you may experience some difficult disconnections in this world but the most important thing is that you're connected to god and he has offered you his plan his plan is simple put your trust in my son jesus who died for your sin and you can be forever connected to the father will you do that today is there any reason why you want to go on being a solitary figure in a world that was meant to be joined together if you will put your trust in him today you can know him in a personal way you can do that today right where you are you don't have to wait you can do it today i encourage you get connected to god today dr jeremiah will return to close today's program right after this [Music] thank you for watching turning point dr jeremiah would like to offer you his book hope living fearlessly in a scary world to help you learn to move from fear to fear not dr jeremiah's book will be sent to you as a thank you for a gift of any amount in support of this program and for a generous gift of 65 or more dr jeremiah will send you in appreciation the living fearlessly set which contains his book his current teaching series what are you afraid of on your choice of cd or dvd and a correlating study guide plus the fear to fear not bookmark which will serve as a reminder to claim hope each day receive these resources when you support the ministry of turning point today [Music] and now with one last word for today's program here is dr jeremiah there's no feeling as empty as being alone god knew it and gave adam a companion and he still offers companionship for those who have faith in him through his son jesus christ god offers us himself he is our assurance that no matter how lonely and disconnected we may feel we're never really alone for he is with us have you entered into that most intimate of relationships connecting with your creator by receiving jesus christ as your savior well if not please let me urge you to do it today i'll send you a couple of free resources that will help you grow in that relationship one is a booklet called your greatest turning point and the other is our monthly devotional magazine turning points we'll send them both to you at no charge if you take a moment to contact us today at turning point next time on turning point adversity is a part of life we don't get a different route through life because we're christians we are on the same road with the same adversity that everybody else has the difference is he's in our boat he's in our car he's with us thank you for being with us today join dr jeremiah next time for his message danger the fear of sudden trouble here on turning point

Channel: David Jeremiah

Views: 66,146

Rating: 4.8836565 out of 5

Keywords: Dr. David Jeremiah, David Jeremiah, Turning Point with David Jeremiah, Turning Point, God, Jesus, Christ, Bible, Safe, Anxious, 2021, troubles, overwhelmed, overwhelming, fear

Id: PFgaI_yOAbw

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021