Reddit reviews No Longer Alone (Joni Eareckson Tada)

I'm alone in a room most of the day from disability and have struggled with loneliness most of my life. I'd say this pamphlet by Joni E. Tada helped me more than most. Her other few on fear and hope are great also.

Also praying the psalms, not reading them, but stopping and branching off prayer through each thought. I can't go a day without them or I get depressed. I'm amazed I lasted so long out of them. Depended on a lot of medications/substances for a long time.

I'll never have a spouse, and I'm now thankful, even being alone. I have double God. I know it sounds weird, it only made sense to me in my mid 30's. Psalms and Matthew 6:33, seek God first in all things. Also something like Tim Keller's short booklet "The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness" is great. We can take all focus, good and bad off ourselves and it's absolute freedom. Never have to even notice the loneliness again. Just saying that won't change it though, I can't explain it. It took Matthew 6:33 and James 1:5 for wisdom, focusing on those daily. Also praise and worship music in the background a lot. Once you REALLY believe you aren't alone and God is right there, the loneliness can go completely away without trying. I have no idea how it works, I'm not doing it, God is. He's teaching you something I assure you. He's loving you right now in all this because He cares.

Praying the Matthew and James verses for you! They both work, amazingly well. It's so real it blows my mind. I believed in Jesus for years, but never saw the Bible start REALLY working right in front of me. Now the Bible is alive and very addicting to me, I can't stay out of it. It's very strange.

I have autism and no one has a clue about my experience, and it's frustrating because nice people want to help and try, but it's so hard to try and explain things from a completely different perspective.

The autism forum "Wrong Planet" hits it on the head, we really do feel like aliens here and were put on the wrong planet at times.

All lights and sounds are amplified, and I used alcohol for years to be able to even go to Bible College. People can't understand that often. It's not 100% fear of man, eye contact is so painful it's unbearable, and I'm left with not making eye contact at all, or trying to do a tightrope walk with alcohol, drinking 2-3 beers to make eye contact without it hurting, but then the 2-3 beers ends up being 4-5 with tolerance then I start making bad decisions (haven't touched alcohol in a long time though).

Medication and recreation are such a fine line. I wasn't trying to feel good though or simply run away and escape from life, I was trying to study God's Word and not be in pain. No one gets that. So I have to keep it to myself and press on, maybe God wants me to be able to relate to others like me with autism one day.

For now, I'm having to be in isolation, go to church online. It's frustrating. I also can't talk about the single one thing that helps me but doesn't cause any problems, hemp/CBD. (Can't even go near talking about cannabis).

Mental disability is rough, no one can see that you are in a wheelchair. Oversensory issues are pure insanity, no one see's the giant amplifyer in your head. The fluorescent lights in stores are horrific, music in church is too loud, everyone talks so loud. Am I supposed to be "that guy" who demands all of life changes for my "special needs" or what? I can't go in public without sinning, then I'm sinning by not being in flesh to flesh fellowship. Then I'm given pills my entire life that don't work then when something does work, people say cannabis/hemp is evil. So I am stuck in a room with my cat for now, studying the Bible with hemp/CBD keeping me sane until more cannabinoids are studied to figure out what works best for each issue.

There's always someone out there who understands though. Or who is sensitive enough not to make assumptions and demand you do things the same way they did, while still obeying God's Word and using Biblical principles.

Often you have to seek those people out.

With Jesus you aren't ever alone, and God will often leave you "alone" until you realize that.

Sorry for ranting, just wanted to give an example of no one possibly being able to understand, and that Jesus is actually enough, even when you feel alone. Jesus understands and is more comforting to me than 100 close friends. I still hope for friends though one day.