Just As He Said

Forsaken?

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5, ESV

I have a young granddaughter named Charlotte who is being sleep-trained by her parents. When they put her in the bed, she often cries. Sometimes she gets herself all worked up in her crying and canā€™t seem to settle down on her own. As a loving parent or grandparent, it is hard to listen to Charlotteā€™s sobs through the baby monitor. She probably feelsā€¦abandoned. Forsaken.

Even though we have a loving heavenly Father, we also go through times of feeling forsaken. We may have a serious health issue, or we might lose a job and face financial hardship. Perhaps thereā€™s strife in family relationships, our safety is threatened, or a loved one dies. Or maybe we just feel alone in this world. We cry out to God in our distress, and he seems distant and silent. Godā€”are you listening? The Psalmist says, ā€œWhy are youā€¦so far from the words of my groaning?ā€

Jesus can relate to these feelings. While we might feel forsaken by God, Jesus WAS forsaken by his loving heavenly Father! No doubt Jesus experienced intense physical suffering on the cross. But the worst was when the Father turned his back on his Son. It was hell on earth. ā€œMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?ā€ And yet, Jesus volunteered for this! In John 10:17, 18, we hear him say, ā€œI lay down my lifeā€¦No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accordā€¦ā€

We deserve to be the ones forsaken by God. Look at how often we have forsaken him! We have worshiped at the altar of many idols. We chase after comfort, security, health, and wealth at the expense of our relationship with God. But Jesus was forsaken on our behalf so that we would never be forsaken. ā€œNever will I leave you; never will I forsake you…ā€ (Hebrews 13:5).

From our perspective, even though God promises to be with us, he doesnā€™t always seem near. We donā€™t understand what he is doing. Life doesnā€™t make sense. Like my granddaughter crying out from her bed, we long to be held, comforted, loved.

When my daughter hears Charlotteā€™s sobs turn to wails through the baby monitor, she will go in and comfort her, place her hand on her back and sing to her, and assure her of her presence and love. This usually calms Charlotte down, and she drifts off to sleep.

God is more watchful than a mother hovering over the baby monitor of her child. He will comfort us at the right time. ā€œWeeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morningā€ (Psalm 30:5). We can trust his promises!

Prayer:

Loving Father, even though we may feel forsaken at times, thank you for your promise that you will never leave us or forsake us. Help us to cling to this promise when we go through hard times, and forgive us when we doubt. Amen.

Written by Mindy Holtz
Provided by WELS Women’s Ministry