Do You Ever Feel Forsaken?

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mark 15:34 KJV

Can you imagine? There Jesus is hanging on the cross crying out to his father asking him why he has forsaken him…

There is a reason Jesus felt this way. His father, God, has turned his back to him due to all our sins being placed upon him.

Together since the beginning of time and in a moment the utter feeling of abandonment.

But you see God can not stand sin. He is Holy and at that moment in time. He had to turn away!

Notice it was not until the 9th hour that Jesus said this. Do you remember what happened for the three hours prior?

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Matthew 27:45 KJV

There was no eclipse of the sun. Jesus was crucified during the Passover which is during the full moon. A solar eclipse requires the new moon.

Do you know what sin looks like? Imagine the darkness over the land, enough to block out the sun, for three hours straight.

It was not until all the darkness (sin) had entered Jesus that he said why have you forsaken me. It was shortly there after he said those famous words IT IS FINISHED  and gave up the ghost.

Now let’s jump to today’s time.

We feel forsaken if a friend doesn’t call and check on us every so often.

We feel forsaken, sometimes, when a loved one dies despite the petitions to Heaven.

Men and women alike will feel forsaken if their spouse says no to their sexual advances.

Women feel forsaken when their husband looks at porn even if she is not having sex with him regularly, and for good reason by the way. That one’s valid!

Heck, we feel forsaken when God doesn’t answer our prayers!

Some of us feel forsaken if we are in a season for too long.

But why do we feel this way? Does not scripture say that he will never leave us nor forsake us..

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV

We feel this way because of the flesh. The flesh is selfish and wants what it wants.

But we as Christians must choose to die to our flesh daily. Heck multiple times in the day.

My prayers have basically been like this..Lord, this is what I need and this is what I want but your will be done.

Now I must confess that praying that is not easy. Because when I want something and I bring it to God I REALLY want it. Sometime he answers and sometimes he doesn’t.

And then sometimes he answers that prayer but not on my timeline. Which sucks at the moment but is a surprise as it shows up exactly when it is needed.

I understand the feeling of forsaken. I’ve been there and it can often lead to a depressed state of mind.

But if we can remember that God will never leave us and never forsake us, even if we feel at the moment that he did, then we can stop that emotion from taking hold. Does that make sense?

I know that in my life I have looked back and seen God’s hand at work. And I know he has been doing the same for you. I also know that he is working this very moment preparing us for something greater. That’s just how he is!

Remember this…to be human is to err. To be sovereign is Lord.

Man will let each other down. But God knows what he is doing. Trust in Him!