We are told all the time that we were made to stand out. We are told if we blend in, we will lose our impact and sacrifice our ability to reach people. We strive to be identified as “one of a kind” with unique abilities and strengths that few others would dare to approach.

We love greatness.

And in our effort to achieve said “greatness,” we can often isolate ourselves to the point of confusing solidarity with individuality. We go our own way and start our own battles, pulling away from the rest of the crowd.

Why? We strive for greatness.

What better way to be identified than as someone who was strong enough to do it alone? So we continue through our days, our struggles, our insecurities, and our weaknesses, hoping the whole time that no one will notice what we’re really made of as we dart through our path to greatness. But here’s the deep flaw in the execution of this plan—we were not made to do life alone.

In Genesis we find a simple phrase that resonates into today: “It is not good for man to be alone.” There is an unmatched strength in vulnerability—in letting people know that you feel life, that you struggle, that you’re striving to improve, and letting them walk that road with you.

Why should they? Why would that be beneficial to anyone? You may not realize this, but nearly every person you will meet has or is dealing with a struggle or a weakness which they don’t feel like they can just share with anyone. They are lonely.

Loneliness stems from the idea that you are incapable of being connected with another. Loneliness transcends space and reality; it blinds you and alters your perception of others and their intentions.
It’s a cruel monster that can cripple the most independent of humans.
Often we work so hard to compensate for our weaknesses that we don’t notice the rest of those around us straining to do the very same.
We desperately strive to reinforce that safety bubble that protects us from being discovered, focusing so much on our own insecurities that we totally miss the rest of the crowd struggling to do that very same thing.

I’m not trying to convey that your life needs to be an open book for the crowds, but rather that your story is like that of so many others very near you.

Your lonely hours and secluded existence do not set you apart, but actually groups you in with many others who are darting through their life plans, too afraid of being discovered to ever be a true and functioning member of Christ’s body.

You are not alone.

Not in your struggles or in your pain. Your fears are shared. Your mistakes were made before and will be made by someone else again.

You are not alone.

Not in your reactions or in your shame. Someone understands you.

You are not alone.

As you close this article and return to your normal life, remember this basic point: God did not plan for you to go this life alone, so get out there, grab a hand, and remind someone they are not alone.

Olivia Dummer is a student in Blue Springs, Missouri where Jason Huckaby is her pastor. She writes and keeps an inspirational blog hoping to encourage others and share what she’s learned about God.