2002-08-28 - Forsaken

Encore from  1996-09-18

Do you ride an emotional roller coaster of faith? Do you feel that sometimes God hides from you? Do you ever wrestle with a problem and never find the insight to explain it? Do you ever wonder why prayers may seem to go unanswered, year after year? You are not alone in having these feelings of abandonment by God. You are not alone in having those periods of doubt and frustrations. Look at the words of David in the following Psalms.

Psalm 10:1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

On the cross, Jesus quotes Psalm 22:1.

Matthew 27:46 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Again in Psalm 13, David cries out:

Psalm 13:1-3 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.

Can you relate to David? I sure can. As you read through the Psalms, you see that David does continue to trust God and have faith in Him. David realizes, as I am sure all of you do, that God never truly turns His face from us. God is always there. We are the ones who turn our backs and hearts from God.

Father, Forgive me when I doubt Your presence. Forgive me when I feel so alone and so distant from You. I know You are always there, patiently waiting for me. I know sometimes as Your child, You need to press and mold me into becoming all You want me to become. Help me to praise You for caring so much about me, that You take that time to mold me. As David said in Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life; You fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." In Jesus' name, Amen.

David Massey

david@e-devotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.e-devotionals.org