Have you ever felt abandoned? Have you ever felt all alone? Sure, you have. We all have. From time to time things happen and we feel as if we are left all alone to deal with the situation we are facing. It really starts when we go to school. Our parents take us to school, and then leave us there. Sure, there are teachers and other students, but to us, we have been left all alone to figure this thing called school out.
Then, we go off to college, and a time may come when we feel alone. We feel as if our families are a long way off and we are left alone. Sure, we can make a phone call and we can talk to our families but it is not like them being there with us. We feel as if we are facing the journey alone.
Finally, we get older and we start to face health issues. Maybe a spouse dies and you feel you are left alone in life, to figure things out. You remember the feeling in school when you felt alone to figure it out. But this is harder. There are no teachers, there are no other students. It is just you to figure life out. Sometimes it causes us to just sit, unable to move. The word we think about in these three scenarios is a word Jesus felt while on the cross, abandonment. I talked about this word this past Sunday.
Abandonment is such a tough word. Being alone, no one to talk to and no one to help us. It is literally like being on an island, no one around. The words of Jesus help us hear that He felt His father had abandoned him. “Why have you forsaken me?” That is hard to hear. It is also hard to experience. We may actually think, or say, the same words when we are experiencing difficulties and we feel as if God has left us. “God, why have you left me here alone to deal with this?” The good news for us today is this, He has not left us. He has not abandoned us. He has not turned His back on us. He didn’t do that to Jesus and He does not do that to us. But how do I know that is the case?
If you feel He has abandoned you, or you know someone who feels this way, let me give you a verse of scripture to remember and share with someone. Hebrews 13:5 says this: “…because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” You can read the beginning of the verse and it talks about not loving money and being content with what we have. The point is, God does not, and will not ever leave us. What a great word today. Jesus knew it and felt it. I want you to know it today. You are not alone. God is, and will always be with you. Until next week…
Peace and Blessing… Johnny
