"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
Very true. And the only way to see and recognize satan's inflence and involvement is through the discernment of the Holy Spirit. However, I would like to focus on the second part of that passage. And I'll start with this (God speaking to Elijah): "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18) If ever we think that we're the only ones going through a particular type of hardship, we need to think again. Elijah was at his wits end, feeling like he was the only one left alive after a prophet-genocide ordered by Jezebel and her husband, King Ahab. There are times in our lives where it feels like we're the only person—other than God—who understands what we're going through. When you think about it, the slice of the globe's population that we actually interact with is but a tiny fraction. There has to be someone out there (seven thousand?) who understands our plight. Being sober and vigilant, with only Jesus as your strength, can be hard. But as He told Paul, "my grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9). There's a good reason why you might be solitary in your sojourn (for a time). But there are other people out there, as Peter pointed out, who are experiencing their version of that suffering, that setback, that addiction. God told Elijah, and the same holds true today. And when it says that the seven thousand hadn't bowed their knees to Baal, it's basically saying that that group had decided to not only worship God alone, but also to see their essential sustenance as coming from Him too. Baal was a god of fertility and harvest, two things that are essential and vital to life. The lessons you learn are meant to be shared with your life and your words.
"At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to there charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." (2 Timothy 4:16-17) Forgive everyone involved...
People the world over are starving for God. The God that you know. And as you walk with Him, going about your day, He will bring them along your path. You're not alone now (even though you might feel it), and when God brings you in and among those who are experiencing the same curriculum, there will be a healing in both of you. So hang in there.
"God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land." (Psalm 68:6)
Class dismissed, go out and play.