Loneliness: God’S Gift to the Single

By Rev. Tony K. Thomas

Have you ever wondered what you were doing wrong in your relationships? Do you have difficulty building and sustaining relationships with others? And because of this, do you now feel alone? If you are struggling with relationships and feelings of loneliness, now is the time to look inside yourself and listen to the small, still voice of life that speaks from within.

Loneliness: Gods Gift to the Single can help you cope with times of loneliness by showing you how to take this solitude and use it as a gift from God. While loneliness can seem like a curse, God can also use loneliness as a way to bring us restoration, redirection, and refreshment. We ask God for so much in our prayers, and his answer may be to bring our souls to a place of rest; in this place, we can then reflect on ourselves and use this time to improve our relationship-building skills.

When a relationship ends, the best place to start is at the beginning. The beginning is where you can witness a fresh way to start again, and the beginning is with God, where relationships were created in the first place. Yes, you were there, and he is here with you now. So take a peek into this gift of loneliness, which is truly a time to dwell with God and be brought into his perfect will.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973627395

Rev. Tony K. Thomas

Rev. Tony K. Thomas has a unique gift for interpreting and harvesting God’s Word for practical use in today’s society, and he is founder and pastor of Foundation of Power Outreach Ministries, located in Sanford, North Carolina. He has been teaching the Word of God for over thirty-six years, and he has a weekly television and radio program called “Heal Our Land.” Rev. Thomas lives in the Raleigh-Durham area, and he is a divorcé with two grown daughters. For more books by Rev. Tony K. Thomas visit

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Copyright © 2018 Rev. Tony K. Thomas.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scriptures taken from the King James Bible

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,

1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org"

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993,

1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of

NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

"Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP),

Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org"

Boldface type and bold italics in scripture quotations have been added by the author for emphasis.

All poems and other quotations are those of the author, Tony K. Thomas, unless

otherwise noted. The pen name Priceless Production is that of the author.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-2740-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2741-8 (hc)

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2018905268

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/26/2018

In Loving Memory of my Grandmothers and Mother

Lu Emma Harris Thomas, Cora Dowdy Perry, and Susie Bell Perry Thomas

Dedication

I would like to give glory and honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so glad for listening and obeying His voice and guidance through His word and many of His chosen vessels. Therefore, I dedicate this book to the first voice that He used to speak to me, my mother, Susie Bell Louise Perry Thomas.

Never did I know when I was just a small child that her voice was teaching me as I stood near her apron while she worked in the kitchen. She would be washing dishes, cooking, and looking out the kitchen window, which I couldn’t see through because I was around three to five years of age. All the other siblings would be in school, and another was in a crib. She would say to me, Son, when you grow up and choose a wife, make sure she can keep house, make sure she can cook, and make sure she can clean. Now don’t you pick her from that place over yonder and down there. She would be speaking and looking out that window. I listened and wondered what was outside that window. Now I know what she was looking at outside that window; it was life. She was speaking from life’s experiences.

I didn’t know that I would hear her voice again when the Holy Spirit impressed upon me to reread Proverbs 31. As I read, I read the words of another mother speaking to her son about the choice of a mate for life. My mother’s voice came back and now I realize that the Spirit was speaking to her to guide me as a king of God. A king isn’t born but is made by the hands of God. God uses voices that He places in our life’s journey to teach, shape, and mold us into His very design. Her voice and example as a wife and mother are worthy of honor. Therefore, I dedicate my first published book in her honor. Yes, Mom, she does exist (God’s perfect gift), because I saw her in you before.

As the scripture says in Proverbs 31:26–31:

She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

"Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all."

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Give her the product of her hands,

And let her works praise her in the gates.

APPTE

Tony K. Thomas

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Pastor Thomas and His Mother at Church Mother’s day 2010

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Loneliness Begins

Chapter 2 Rest, Balance, Breathe

Chapter 3 Loneliness Is a Process

Chapter 4 The Works of Loneliness

Chapter 5 Loneliness Leads us to Prayer

Chapter 6 Loneliness Is a Journey

Chapter 7 Proverbs 31 from a King’s Perspective

Chapter 8 Loneliness Leads Us to Love

Chapter 9 Loneliness Prepares Us

Chapter 10 Loneliness Is A Gift From God

In Closing

Acknowledgement

About Apostle Tony K. Thomas

The Search for It All

I know by now you may feel like a jerk,

but if only others could see all the pain and the hurt.

Trying again, hoping again, trusting again, searching again—

it all seems like so much work.

When you started, as others have done,

it looked like no one else was on the same journey.

It got so lonely that just to see another

Made you give more just to go further.

No time to repair all the things that need fixing;

Too busy moving further before you can’t.

No use looking back—

You brought the pain with you.

Then you realize the things you learned:

How to forgive, how to remove the hurt …

The search for it all is the way this works

By bringing the hope

That there will be an end to the search.

Be ready for what the journey teaches.

Priceless Production

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Introduction

WOW! I call this Walking On Water, again. The previous poem is somewhat like a prophecy of the direction that my life would take after nineteen years of being married. This poem was written a few weeks or so after I began a new journey in my life of separation, divorce, and being single again. Never was this part of my life’s plan, but I was in it. I hope that as you read this poem, it can perhaps remind you of what you experienced in your search for what you thought you had already found.

I am slow about doing many things that the Spirit of the Lord has called me to do. I have to make sure that it is His will and that He will lead me in the work. This book has become a first, and during the writing, it became more than one book. I have actually begun and completed another work before I finished this one. I wrestled with God over and over about these subjects, because I felt like a misfit. Why would He choose me to be writing about singleness and relationship building, when it seemed that mine had failed?

The simple answer came one day during one of my wrestling moments with the Father. He impressed upon me, with that hushed, serene voice from inside my soul, that I was chosen to write about these subjects because He knew that I