Loneliness often precedes breakthrough for a child of God.

Joseph was alone in captivity before he was raised as a prince. Job was alone in his suffering before he was restored to prosperity. Peter was alone in his failure before he was reinstated an apostle. Jesus was alone in the desert before he was released in to ministry.

God will sometimes intentionally lead us in to a place of loneliness to test us and prepare us for the task He has set before us. Once this work is done within us, the Lord releases us in to our inheritance.

However, sometimes the Lord chooses to keep someone in a place of loneliness for a sustained period of time.

John the Baptist not only grew up in the desert but he outworked his ministry in the desert, and lived from what the desert produced. A lonely place became his home and his inheritance.

Loneliness is sometimes the cost for a servant of the Lord.

In the same way that a manger was the nursery for our King, the desert is a nursery for our soul. However, some are called to remain there beyond the formative years, to be a blessing to many.