WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

Even when the Lord Jesus knew his destiny and prophesied his future, he nevertheless certainly knew and expressed the difficulty of being forsaken. He had been forsaken by some of his disciples, forsaken while in Gethsemane, forsaken by the Jewish leaders…but none of this was like being forsaken at the cross. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

We too have our ‘Dark Nights of the Soul’ as St John of the Cross called them. Maybe not as dark as Gethsemane…and certainly not as dark as Golgotha, but very dark and lonely indeed.

Forsaken means to abandon, desert, to leave in straits, to leave helpless or to leave in the lurch (Strong’s Concordance). While we move along in faith and confidence…Boom! There is a job loss, divorce, poor choices, unexpected debt, illness, auto accidents, church leaders disappoint us, friends turn on us… the list goes on: forsaken.

Overcoming abandonment is not to deny it exists but to fully accept it and start the search for healing and wholeness. After any conflict we need to stop and ‘lick our wounds’ to try to recover, to try to have any faith at all. We need to take to heart and remember that Jesus said, “I will never leave you a or forsake you.”

While walking through our various experiences we will have some tough days. I just hope on those days to not totally lose faith and learn to pray for mercy.

“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus