Last year, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office released an advisory specifically on the mental health and well being of parents.

The advisory stated that loneliness is particularly prevalent among parents. About 65% of parents and guardians, and 77% of single parents experience loneliness.

And it’s worth noting, according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s office, these advisories are “reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.”

The New York Times published an article in response to the advisory shortly after its release. In it, Claire Miller reported that parents are struggling under the burden of parenting in an individualistic society.

Miller wrote, “Behind it all is the American belief that parenting is an individual task, not a societal one. While many Americans experience loneliness, parents are more likely than nonparents to say that they do, and that no one understands the extent of their stress.” (emphasis added).

Later in the article, she quotes Professor Melissa Milkie, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, on the issue.

“In the U.S., it’s this sense of individualism: You chose to have kids, so go raise them,” Milkie said. “Parents need the village, but people are not as available as they were.”

But, even in a culture of individualism like ours, God assures us we’re not alone. God is always present with those who love him.

In Romans 8:35-39, Jesus’ disciple Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … [I]n all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Paul continues, “I am sure that neither death nor life … nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Isaiah 30, Isaiah prophesies about the coming of Jesus and how the Holy Spirit will dwell in his followers, always with them.

Isaiah 30:20 says, “[T]hough the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, … [a]nd your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

He is with us when we are lonely, and he is with us in our parenting decisions.

God is with you. You have his attention.

You also have his helpers. He sent us helpers in the Church. He has set up the Body of Christ in large part for encouragement and friendship among believers. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “[C]onsider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together … but encouraging one another.”

In our loneliness and weariness, God has designed us to do life with one another in the church. We have permission to lean on his village. We are not in this alone.

God is with you and for you. You have his attention.

Watch or listen as I walk through this article on my podcast Tired But Called now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.