For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you; says the LORD, your Redeemer. Isaiah 54: 7, 8
Dear Lord, I pray that You will be our teacher as we study Your holy Word. For Christ’s sake; Amen
Have you ever felt as if God had abandoned you? Do you ever feel forgotten, or deserted, by God? Have you ever felt as if your prayers did not go any further than the roof? Well, you are not alone. Most people, if not all of us, have been there at one time or another. I am sure that you have heard me say this before. I believe that there are certain groups of individuals who are more prone than others to adapt such an attitude. Let us consider some of these groups together.
The elderly, are a very vulnerable group of people. They tend to feel cast-off, and abandoned. This is true in some cultures more than in others. Studies showed that those with “less than three” long-term close relationships had a shorter life span (Social Psychology, 7th edition, D. G. Meyers, p. 587). Listen to the psalmist, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails…Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me…” (Psalm 71: 9, 18a). We can rest in the assurance that “Even to your old age I am He; and even to gray hairs I will carry you (Isaiah 46:4)! Remember that promise?
Believers, or spiritual Israel. “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me’ ” (Isaiah 49: 14). Oftentimes those that are closest to us (children, spouses), and have enjoyed our friendship and kindness, may come to take these things for granted, to the point where they may no longer recognize our deep concern for them. They may even feel as if we have deserted them. And so it is with the Christian; many times, because things do not seem to be working out the way we had hoped they would, we come to the conclusion that, even God has forsaken us. It is then we are to remember His promises, among them, this well loved promise, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me” (Psalm 27: 10).
The disobedient. Our disobedience, more often than not, gets us into trouble. Trouble can taken on varied faces (illness, captivity, financial hardship, spiritual or physical defeat, to name a few). Then, instead of searching our souls to see what we may be doing wrong, we accuse God, of abandoning us! At these times God reminds us “Thus says the Lord: You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12: 5b). I have not forsaken you, I am simply respecting your desire, to be left alone. It is really you who have forsaken Me!
In these moments of loneliness and uncertainty, let us remember that we cannot trust our feelings! They have been tainted by doubt, and distrust. Far better to remember the words of the Lord, “For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints….But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD He is their strength in the time of trouble” (Psalm 37: 28, 39).