Have you felt like God has forgotten
the plans He has for you?
Do you feel maybe like He has put you
'on hold' indefinitely because of choices you have made?
I want to tell you today my brothers
and sisters that no, God has not forsaken you; you may however have
forsaken Him. He has promised He would never leave you nor forsake
you; it is in the Word of God, because of this you can know it is
true.
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “ I will ever leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
If this is true then why is it that
there are times we feel as if God is not watching us? Why do we feel
like Jesus on the cross when he said; “Eloi Eloi! Lamasabachtani?”
Psalm 22: 1 and also Mathew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 all tell us that
Jesus felt forsaken, David too felt forsaken but the Word of God
shows us that no we have not truly been forsaken. Even when we
attempt to leave God's presence we cannot.
But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed-- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For
we who live are always delivered to earth for Jesus' sake, that the
life of Jesus also may be made manifested in our mortal flesh. So
then death is working in us, but life in you.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
Oh, look there it is again, in the Word
and truth! It's not about us! God has not forsaken us because its not
about us; it is about those who see us walking a life that is
presentable to Him, giving an example of what is to be to those who
are lacking in faith, hope and peace.
Sometimes we have to suffer, sometimes we have to go hungry to show that God is with us.
Sometimes we have to fall that we may get up again and prove to those watching that God will not leave us laying there but that He will send the Comforter to minister to us and encourage us to strength again.
Physically I know what this means; I
have fallen and wondered how on earth I would get up to go on. Last summer at a camp I love to help out at I slipped and fell after an invigorating hike. Kneeling there I wondered if I had the strength to stand and walk the last fifty yards to a place I could sit and wait for the rest of the troop of hikers. With me were two kids and a teen. Two of them prayed for me and assisted me. The smaller of the two! I know it was God who lifted me up because these two would never have been able to do so but for their prayers of faith. I look back on that now and the, as I am still healing from the event, and wonder why I fell in the first place. The ground was not really rugged at that point. There was nothing that I tripped on, only sand, and a slightly slippery slope was created by a slight down incline.
I could have been discouraged and belly
ached to God that He allowed me to fall, in the several months of
rehab I am still working out the kinks of that fall but I know in all
of it that God has a plan.
For He knows the plans that He has for me. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me so.
For He knows the plans that He has for me. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me so.
When we fall down we can choose to lay
there feeling discouraged or we can get up; if we can't do it on our
own we can ask for help. Just as I received help from the smallest of
kids; God sometimes will show us He has not forsaken us in the
smallest of ways.
Preventative maintenance; something we
do before we need to to prepare us to meet the challenge when it
comes.
My legs, and feet where fine when I
fell because I had been working out making them strong for a year of
training for a race prior to this. Had I not been working on them I
may have injured my ankle. But God had already prepped me for this!
In the same way that my legs and feet where prepped physically God provides
prep time spiritually for us prior to
problems we are going through if we would just take notice.
The speaker at a conference may be
sharing about something you never think you will have to deal with,
its so far out there that you do not even know why you are listening.
Then you may walk out to check your phone and find out your whole
world is crashing in on you because that very topic had now touched
your life too.
God will never leave you nor forsake
you; He is preparing you for what you need today, tomorrow or next
year do not take it lightly; its not about you.
A few years ago my mother passed away.
It was devastating to me and my siblings because we had just lost our
father and even though I knew she was no longer in pain or fear, that
she had found the peace of God's presence I missed her.
Straight after her death I found myself
at a Women's Conference. I cried out to God there on the floor of a
hotel restroom bellyaching to Him and unloading all my sorrows until
I found such a peace that it was amazing and I returned to the group
setting. In that service He used me as a back up prayer person in a
way He had not used me before; He showed me clearly that He had not
left me comfortless the showed me how I could use the peace He had
given me to listen to that still small voice. He showed me the cries
of the people we prayed for's hearts in a way I had never seen
before. Had I not fallen to my knees a few moments before in the
bathroom of all places, I would not have been open to hear what the
Spirit was saying.
Still it was not about me, though I was
blessed by the experience, I have heard people talk of how the person
I was helping in that instance spoke to them so clearly with the
words God had given them. My blessing was about my being available to
His desire to assist those in need who needed to know that God was
there, listening to their needs. What an amazing thing to be allowed
to experience, to be a part of. In this I know that God has not
forsaken me. Even in my sorrow He found a way to give me the desires
of my heart; to be used by Him.
If you are suffering in pain, or sorrow
or some other distress or discouragement today I want to encourage
you to be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is
with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you but will be with you
wherever you shall go.
I ask
you never to forsake Him, but if you find that you have do not be
afraid to go to Him and ask forgiveness; then continue on and follow
His guidance and His direction, for He has never forsaken you and
will be with you always, even to the end.
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for
never forsaking us but being with us at all times in all things and
through all things. Help us to be still and listen today, to follow
your direction and follow Your will in our lives knowing that You
have a plan in it all. In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested Reading 2 Corinthians 4:1-18,
Hebrews 13:1-25, Mathew 27:1-65 Mark 15:1-47.