I have a little over 4,000 friends on Facebook. I “friended” many of them, but I also have had many people who “friended” me. I have no clue who many of them are, and I suppose they got my name because of our radio program, attended church, or read my blog. I never really connect with most of them. Four thousand people is a lot to keep track of, but occasionally someone will want to “chat” on Messenger. Most of the time, I don’t know them, but they know who I am, and usually, their motive for connecting with me is to get advice or counsel about something in their life that is a problem. I enjoy helping people and usually try to steer them towards faith in Christ. Often, they terminate the conversation when I get too “preachy,” as one person wrote. Last night, I chatted with a young lady for a while. She didn’t seem to have any problems she wanted to discuss; she just wanted to chat. She had written that she was thirty years old, and I quickly concluded that she was lonely and had no friends. I wrote that I have several really great daughters who I could connect her with and who would love to get to know her. She responded, no, that she wanted to get to know me and chat with me. I told her earlier that I was 76 years old, had 28 grandchildren, eight kids, and a beautiful wife who loved me, but that didn’t seem to deter her. I terminated the conversation and unfriended her, but I have been thinking about her ever since. What was her need? Why did she want to chat with me? It has puzzled me all day long. I will never know for sure what her motive or need was. I read the whole chain to Patty, and she was puzzled by it as well but was glad that I ended it.

There are so many people in our world who are struggling with loneliness, a feeling of being rejected and unloved, who have no purpose in life and no hope for the future. It is such a sad thing to see and hear. I am one person in a sea of humanity, and there is only so much I can do, and that is getting less and less as I get older. But I can do something, so I will keep my ears and eyes open, looking for those divine appointments God gives me to do my part. If every Christian does that, many people will be helped and come to know Jesus.