From Henri Nouwen’s The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey From Anguish to Freedom:

When you experience deep loneliness, you are willing to give up everything in exchange for healing.

Always a temptation. In this life you will have suffering—Jesus was explicit on that—but the massive tendency in your life is to try to avoid it.

What’s more, everything about North American culture facilitates this avoidance. Twenty-four hour “binge-able” content, constant distractions (both physical and digital), the drive for a self-centered more more more more more more.

None of these are your friends in this context.

But no human being can heal that pain. Still people will be sent to you to mediate God’s healing, and they will be able to offer you the deep sense of belonging that you desire and that gives meaning to all you do.

While you should not trust other people for your healing, that does not mean that they can’t be useful. 

Take what help is needed. It is grace.

Dare to stay with your pain, and trust in God’s promise to you.

This is a taller order than you think. Can you trust that God loves you and that He deeply desires your healing?

Believe that He does, and that He is at work, even in the silences and loneliness.