Lone Wolf

Lauren Latta
Mar 30, 2016
5 min read

"So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord."

1 Thessalonians 3: 7-8

If you ask my mother, she will tell you that I was a child who didn’t mind playing by herself. I suppose I became accustomed to being alone. Of course I have had several friends over the years, but…I moved, they moved, I got busy, they got married, things happen…and so life goes. I tried not to let it bother me...too much. In the fall of 2014, loneliness hit me like a fly ball. It doesn’t help to feel alone while you're struggling.

I wrote in my journal…

Please, Lord, help me make it through this. I am so lonely and tired. I need your strength. I need your fellowship. My heart is breaking for what I desperately want…to have a fellowship of friends who are like minded. To have someone to share life with.

Satan enjoys torturing us with the lie that we are alone.

Even recently one of my dear friends told me she has plans of starting a new chapter of her life. I was extremely excited for her… until a sinking feeling came over my heart that I would be left, yet again, without a friend. A mixture of bitter and sweet tumbled through my heart the rest of the afternoon.

Then I thought it…Maybe I’m just destined to be a lone wolf.

I caught myself almost immediately. God has not called us to live in isolation. No man is an island, they say. But, the enemy would love nothing more than for you to think that you are completely on your own with no one to turn to in your time of need. Because you see, he is the wolf. He is the one who would like to separate you from the herd at your time of weakness. He would love nothing more than to sink his teeth into you while you are already feeling vulnerable, weak, hurt, and “alone” in order to ensure you will never go back to the flock…or the Shepherd…for help.

Looking back, it was as though I was the little sheep being separated from the herd. I was wandering around in darkness, blinded by fear. I was prodded by a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

I could hear him…

Don’t tell them what you’re feeling, they’ll think you’re crazy.

You are too broken to be fixed, might as well not ask for help.

They’ve never experienced this before.

They won’t understand.

They can’t help you.

You are alone.

It’s funny how often loneliness is a lie.

Despite my thoughts being filled with lies, there was a truth that kept resounding in my heart. It said, “Open your eyes.”

Timidly, I began to open one eye at a time and take in what was truly surrounding me…

I had a Sunday school teacher who encouraged me. Once I opened up to her about what I was experiencing, she sent me daily scriptures and reminders that she was praying for me.
I had two mentors that came to my aid. One came to my house in the middle of one of my worst panic attacks. She held me, cried with me, and prayed with me. The other allowed me to nap at her house for hours when I couldn’t take it anymore, drove me to counseling, and poured wisdom into me.
I had a roommate who supported me. When she came home from work to find me panicking, she would take me on walks and talk with me to help me get my mind off of things.
I had friends who I could call and would pray over the phone with me.
I had parents who prayed with me and told me they loved me.

It was when I finally opened my eyes and sought help, I realized the flock had been there the whole time. I did not even have to reach that far to grab a helping hand. They had been there the whole time. And although I couldn’t feel his presence, the Shepherd had been there too.

"Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2

Our Shepherd commands us to share each other’s burdens. This means when you have burdens, like depression and anxiety, He wants you to share them with other believers. If you know someone is suffering, He calls us to help carry the load. This is what the people around me did. When they supported me, I could feel the burden of it all become lighter. It wasn’t gone, but I wasn’t alone anymore. That changed everything.

Your enemy, the “wolf,” wants you to be isolated in this time. He wants you to think that you are too far gone and that no one will understand. Because he knows, “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). That’s why he wants you to feel alone. That’s why he desperately wants to keep you away from other believers when you are hurting. Because when you gather with another believer and share your burdens with them…God is there, and when God is there healing and restoration happen.

If you have been isolating yourself because you have been led astray by thinking you are too far gone, here’s my encouragement to you:

First, understand that we are all broken people who have difficulties. Do not believe for a second the lie that says other believers will not understand what you are going through. We all struggle.

Next, open your eyes. Take notice of those surrounding you. I hope you will find Godly, trustworthy people in your life who will want nothing more than to invest in you during this time. While it is important to reach out to people during this time, please be careful about who you reach out to. Make sure that they are trustworthy and truly care for you. It’s okay to be picky. How tragic it would be to trust the wrong people with your vulnerable state.

Then, Have courage by asking for help. It’s scary to admit you’re struggling. I don’t want to pretend that the process is necessarily easy. Admit it to God first. If you do not have others close to you whom you trust, pray that God will supply you with a confidant. Then admit it to others. The pride in me hated to ask for help, but when I did I began to hear God’s words through people wiser than me. People who had victory over these same issues in their life were able to speak God’s promises and truths to me.I truly was not alone.

Last, something I did that was meaningful to me at the time but has grown even sweeter now is recording encouraging words from others. I urge you to do this. You will begin to see the proof of how much you are loved and how deeply the Shepherd cares for and tends to his sheep.

Please understand, we are not meant to do life on our own. We are meant to live together because that’s where the Shepherd’s presence is. It’s not people that we need, but it is God’s presence that dwells in them that we need.

Pay attention to their wisdom. Renew your strength in their love and care. Gain encouragement from their example of standing firm. Find hope in their victories.

And here’s the truth, so do not let yourself be deceived:

You are not crazy.

You are not too far gone.

Those who love you want to help you.

They do know what it’s like. More people than you realize have experienced the same feelings.

They can help you, because the spirit of the living God is in them.

You are not meant to be a lone wolf.