Are We Abandoned? Are We Forsaken?
Originally published with wildfaithco.com.
It is a sad and constant refrain throughout the Old Testament: “They have forsaken me and served other Gods.”
God delivers the Israelites through a parted sea, then they forsake him and wander in the desert. God raises up judge after judge, then king after king, then prophet after prophet, and the cycle continues—the people forget God, and it always ends in disaster.
Usually in the lowest of lows, someone cries out to God. Joshua cries out for God to deliver Jericho. Hannah cries out for God to deliver her from bareness. David needs deliverance from Saul. Daniel needs deliverance from the lions. The refrain goes on and on, and though the laments are answered differently each time, God always responds. When his people rebel in sin, God’s perfect holiness requires that He turn His face away. But He is always eager to draw us back. He always answers the call of those who cry out to Him. He does not leave us forsaken.
This means that if you are feeling forsaken right now, you are in good company.
I do not pretend to know the reasons we are enduring this global pandemic or natural disasters. Like most areas of our pain, there is a complex web of our own sin, being sinned against by others, and the fallen nature of creation that contributes to our suffering. But this I do know: “We do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus understands food insecurity. He has worked long hours in dangerous situations. He was rejected. He was poor. He had a body vulnerable to fatigue, sickness, and disease.
These realities help us to feel seen and understood by God, and yet His goodness doesn’t stop there. It would be mere niceties if all God could do is throw an arm around our shoulder and say, “I feel you.” Instead, we have a God who walked in our shoes, felt the weight of the sin in this world, and also overcame it.
In his final hours, Jesus quotes a Psalm of David, lamenting to His Father, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Our sin, which ripped God from Godself, left Jesus forsaken on the tree. We turned from God, and God’s son endured the separation we deserve. He paid the cost that we truly owe.
This was the final and ultimate forsaking.
The remarkable beauty of this news—what turns our whole world upside down—is that the Cross means we are never again truly forsaken. Sister, you may feel forsaken in some seasons. I know I do! Across the globe, this feeling of being forsaken is particularly acute right now.
Would you lament this pain with me? The Psalms model for us the appropriateness of crying out to God. To lament to Him is an act of faith. We bring our feelings of forsaking to God because there is no other name in which we may be rescued. Our weeping belongs at the foot of the Cross, where He may call us to lift our head and see Jesus, beaten, forsaken for us so that we might never be more than a breath away from hope and salvation.
I pray that God would give us eyes to see that no matter our circumstances, we are not truly forsaken. Yes, our current pain is real. Our trials are real. But as Christians, we are not left to face them on our own. We can stand together, encouraging one another with the rest of that passage in Hebrews. Because Jesus has stood in our place, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need” (4:16).