The moment is etched in my memory. Early into life in our new country, my young daughter received an invitation to a birthday party for another child in her class. Wanting to take every opportunity to help her cultivate some friendships (as much as one cultivates anything at the age of seven), I took her to the party and watched her run toward a group of her classmates, but the cluster of kids didn’t seem to receive her. It wasn’t a malicious rejection, as the language barrier rendered communication very challenging for everyone in those early days, but my mother’s heart broke as I watched her run off and try to amuse herself in the vicinity of the others. I spent most of the party standing alone too, as I did not know any of the other parents and had a low language level at the time. 

Does this story strike a nerve with you? Maybe you haven’t experienced this exact situation, but I suspect that cross-cultural life brings everyone the unwanted gift of loneliness from time to time. Perhaps after years of struggling to learn a language you still feel unable to communicate on a deeper level. Or maybe you’ve tried to forge relationships with your neighbors but haven’t been met with welcoming attitudes. Even at church among God’s people you might be painfully aware of how different you are from everyone else, like you’ve moved to the ends of the earth and are light-years away from anything or anyone familiar. 

The psalmist in Psalm 61 seems to have these same feelings as he cries out to God from “the ends of the earth.” He asks to be led to the rock that is higher than he is, an image that points to Jesus as the rock and refuge in times of trouble. Instead of asking to be led to a different earthly location, somewhere more pleasant and familiar perhaps, he desires to deepen his fellowship with his Lord. 

Praying about loneliness does not guarantee its immediate removal, but we can be sure that looking only for earthly, temporal solutions will never fill the longings inside us: only Jesus, the rock that is higher than we are, can do that.