Have you ever felt alone? The kind of alone where everyone around you knows your name, but you feel out of place and, strangely, unknown? Or have you ever felt alone because you are hurting and struggling, and yet the world seems to move along without you? I have.
Due to life circumstances, I spent many years of my life feeling Alone. I experienced a lot of brokenness, weathered many trials, and came to believe my lot in life was to learn how to suffer well. Eventually, I came to a breaking point where my life was at a crossroads – follow Jesus or lose everything. Out of desperation, with the help of friends, and by the grace of God, I turned towards the cross and started running. Through my brokenness and trials my family has faced, I have learned, and continue to learn, that I am Not Alone because I have Resurrection Hope in Jesus.
Several months ago, I began sharing my ideas for Not Alone Ministries with those around me. I received eager responses from people who, like me, had times in their life when they felt alone. Some people I talked to were currently in lonely situations and eager for a remedy to their loneliness. Others recalled past seasons of loneliness and the difficulties of those times. I felt overwhelmed by the eager responses I received because I could tell that loneliness is a widespread void that people wanted answers to. I also knew that God wanted to fill this void, but I wasn’t sure how He wanted to fill it and how He wanted me to be involved.
As I began pondering this subject of loneliness, I came across a podcast that talked about Christian community and how important it is to have a close set of friends. These friendships stir up hope through shared togetherness and by pointing each other to Jesus, all while encouraging each other in their walk with Christ. This is beautiful, but there is also a problem. I think most people that are feeling a crisis of loneliness are also the very people that don’t have these close friendships. Or worse, they do have close friendships but still feel empty inside. I felt conflicted once again with how God wanted me to get involved in helping people know they are Not Alone when I felt incapable of meeting the need for community for so many people.
Then, I started a journey of reading my Bible every. single. day. No more excuses. I was committed. What I wasn’t expecting was the anticipation I felt toward reading my Bible each day. It no longer became a chore or an I-should-do-this-because-I’m-a-Christian. It became a genuine desire to learn more about who God is and the joy that is found in Him. Still, my own loneliness would creep back into my heart, and I would feel sad and overwhelmed again. I’m trying to start a ministry called Not Alone and… here I am feeling alone again. How can I confidently talk about being Not Alone when I’m feeling lonely myself?
Then, it hit me. Living life Not Alone does not mean I will be perpetually cheery, void of all other emotions or feelings. No, living life Not Alone means that I have someone that is with me in my sadness, a partner in my pain whom also rejoices with my triumphs.
I’ve been concerned that starting Not Alone Ministries would indicate that I have an XYZ answer for people’s loneliness, but that’s not the case at all because brokenness is never a one-time problem. Brokenness is a lifetime problem that needs a lifegiving answer. That answer is Jesus. It is the Resurrection Hope that we find through relationship with Him.
The desire of Not Alone Ministries is to point you to Jesus and encourage you in a relationship with Jesus for a lifetime journey. This ministry is called Not Alone Ministries: Anchoring Your Soul in Resurrection Hope, because Hebrews 6:19 tells us, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” When we anchor our souls in Jesus we are anchoring them in everlasting hope, something that will never change or go away. I call it Resurrection Hope because it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that gives us this everlasting hope that defeated sin and shame. The vision for this ministry is to connect women to God through Resources, Reassurance, and Resurrection Hope so that you can live Not Alone.
The Resource page will be a continually developing page. The Reassurance page will host my blog, sharing stories of my life and things God has put on my heart. The Resurrection Hope page will serve as a place for you to discover how to have this eternal hope.
So, sister, if you are feeling unknown, lonely, or broken today, there is Resurrection Hope for you. You are Not Alone in Jesus. The pain and brokenness might still be there, but you don’t have to live through it alone anymore. There is One who knows you, loves you, died for you and wants to have a relationship with you so that you will never be alone again.
Living Not Alone in Jesus,
Jenny Leigh
NOT ALONE MINISTRIES 