A Miserable Life

Ecclesiastes 4.7&8 in the Contemporary English Version states:  

Once again I saw that nothing on earth makes sense.  For example, some people don't have friends or family.  But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more.  They should ask themselves, "Why am I always working to get more? Who will get what I leave behind?"  What a senseless and miserable life.

No matter what translation you use, the Bible calls the life of one who is alone, "a grievous task" [KJV], "a grave misfortune" [NKJV], "an unhappy business" [RSV], "a miserable business" [NIV].  And they all mean the same thing.  The life of a one who is all alone is an empty and miserable life.

Some who live this miserable life are driven to suicide, drugs, alcohol, and even crime, just to fill their life with something, so there isn't that large gaping and hole in the middle of their soul.

This is not a subject not often addressed by the religious leaders of our time, eventhough there are plenty Christians who are living this miserable life, which aught not to be.  How does the Bible say we should deal with this miserable life?

Verses 9-12 states,

You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you get more enjoyment out of what you earn.  If you fall, your friend can help you up.  But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.  If you sleep alone, you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night.  Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you.  As the saying goes, "A rope made of three strands of cord is hard to break."

Did you ever see those "Life Alert" commercials where someone says, "I've fallen and I can't get up."  Fortunately, a daughter was coming that day, or a neighbor came looking.  So these people got "Life Alert" so they "won't have to be alone."  If you fall just press a button, and the voice of "Life Alert" appears on a speaker assuring you that someone is on the way.  I don't know about you, but if I were to fall, I would prefer a real live human being to help me up than to have the assurances of technology, that someone is on the way.  And that is the Biblical answer.  

God never intended for anyone to be alone.  In the beginning, after God made Adam, he said that it wasn't good for the man to be alone.  So God made Adam a helper.  A helper, someone to help.  And, no matter how independent you think you are able to be, we all need a helper every now and then.  It is only pride and an over-inflated ego that makes anyone think that they can make it through life without anyone.

One way the Bible deals with the miserable life is marriage.  As I just mentioned, God gave Adam a wife.  Proverbs 18.22 states, "A man's greatest treasure is his wife - she is a gift from the Lord." [CEV]  And in 19.4 it is written, "... a sensible wife is a gift from the Lord." [CEV] And, I Corinthians 7.9 in the Amplified Bible, it is written in part, "For it is better to marry than to be aflame [with passion and tortured continually with ungratified desire."

Among Christians, there is another way the Bible deals with being alone, and that is fellowship.  In Acts chapter 2, verses 44-47, and in Acts chapter 4 verses 32-37, we are told that those first Christians "were all together" and "had all things in common."  They were daily together in the temple.  They shared their meals from house to house, praising God and having favor with all the people.  They sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the apostles who divided the proceeds to anyone who have need.  And no one was alone.  

So there are two ways the Bible deals with the miserable life.  In this day, few Christians experience the kind of fellowship those first Christians shared.  And, in this day, marriage is not as simple as it once was.  The world seems to be going away from the Biblical solutions to the lonely life.  We have substitutes like "Life Alert."  And yes, the internet.  How many people who live alone spend much of their time on the internet?  At least the internet helps you make a connection with other people.  But, I can tell from experience, it's not the same as having a real, live, flesh and blood human being to keep you company.  

So what do we do about the miserable life since our society is going away from the Biblical solutions?