Being in high school, with so many different groups and so many people around us each day, why does it seem like there is an overabundance of loneliness? A genuine struggle for many high schoolers is feeling left out and feeling like the last option and just overall feeling lonely. Why is this? Why are there so many people around us (1,110 at Sylvan Hills this year) all with different interests, but we always tend to feel alone? With the amount of students we have, it seems like we should have many people around us to not feel alone, which leads to another question: is it that we don’t have the people around us, or is it that we are looking for the wrong thing when it comes to fulfillment and comfort?
We wanted to ask students why this is. Sophomore Drake Davis shared his point of view, “[T]o put it simply, you’re around people and you know you’re involved with them, but you don’t truly feel like you’re involved. You’re there and present, but if you weren’t there, nothing would change for them. That’s how it feels for me.
“I’m usually the one to text people,” Davis continues, “rather than people texting me. I ask people how they’re doing and stuff, but no one ever asks me how I’m doing, and I’m not saying they are bad friends for this, they are truly good friends… but this is just something I wish would happen. And I’ve disassociated myself with friends I used to always hang-out with because they weren’t Godly influences on my life and it often leads me to feeling like I don’t have a place where I truly belong. This often leads to myself not being held accountable for my actions, and leads me to searching for approval I don’t need, I’ll say something stupid or something along the lines of that just to get attention really, but in the end it’s more harmful than anything.”
We see here exactly what part of the problem seems to be for some. They have people around them but they feel like just the extra option or feel like they are just there to be there. Davis explains how searching for approval of people can really just lead to much more harm.
The Apostle Paul gives us an exact answer on this subject in Colossians 3:23-24, “[w]hatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” This verse goes along with the idea that we must not look for approval and reward from humans, we must look for it in Christ and remind ourselves we always have what God has in store for us in the end.
I decided to get more than just one person’s point of view. Senior Harley Pridmore decided to share her story, “[f]rom the age of 14 to 15 years old, I was always left out of things and it affected me in a sad way as in depression and loneliness. I have dealt with this for most of my life because I used to have a lot of free time. Within recent years I’ve had to deal with it but having friends who are there to help definitely helps. Sometimes I feel alone but I always remember I have my friends, family, and God there to help. Lately, life has been less lonely because of God, my main friends, and my boyfriend.”
This point of view goes back to the side of just genuinely feeling alone, but also ties into that it’s not permanent and it is possible to overcome. Reading through scripture we see in Jeremiah 29:11 it says, “[F]or I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This shows that God is always there and he always has a plan, we just have to keep trusting that he will bring it to us at the right time.
A final piece of scripture is part of a prayer from King David in Psalm 25:16-17, “[t]urn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.” David was feeling alone at this time and who did he turn to? He turned to God in prayer. That’s what we can do: to pray instead of going and looking for the temporary fulfillment from the world. So when you’re in these times of loneliness, go to God, go to that friend who has always been there for you, go to that family member you trust, find comfort in what God has to offer.
closing paragraph (psalms 25:16-17)
