As we walk through this life, it can feel like a roller coaster. One minute, everything is great; everyone is healthy, prosperous, and thriving; then, out of nowhere, an attack. It can be an illness, maybe the C word, a loss of a job, a wayward child, a cheating spouse, or a tragic death of someone we love. These trials come to all, saved and unsaved. You surrendered your life to Christ years ago and put all your faith, hope, and trust in Him. He has answered past prayers for you, provided comfort when you needed it, strengthened you when you were weak, but now, He is nowhere to be found. You have cried, prayed, begged, praised, and quoted His word daily with no help in sight. You feel like God has left you all alone to endure this crushing trial. The enemy whispers in your ear, “Where is your God now?” “He doesn’t love you.” “After all these years of faithfully serving Him, He has turned His back on you.” Satan is doing what he does best: lie. Always remember, when Satan starts whispering lies to you, it’s important to get in God’s word and find the truth.
Let’s look at a few people in the Bible who felt abandoned by God. King David felt this way too many times to count. Just read the entire book of Psalms. In Psalms 13:1, King David writes, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” He felt totally abandoned by God. Notice that by verse 5 of the same chapter, though, he said, “But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.” He remembered that the faithful God who had brought him through trials before would do it again, and he began to praise God.
In Lamentations 3:1-20, Jeremiah describes how the Lord has made him walk in darkness, surrounded him with bitterness and woe, shut out his prayers, torn him in pieces, made him desolate, and on and on. Something changes in verse 21, and Jeremiah begins recalling the Lord’s goodness, compassion, faithfulness, and salvation. He remembered, like King David, what God had done for him in the past and started praising the Lord.
The third example is the King of Kings, our Lord, Jesus Christ. When Jesus was facing the cross and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest, He said to his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” In Luke 22:41, Jesus prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:44 says, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.” I do not believe that Jesus was afraid to die. He knew that was the very reason that He came. Perhaps it was the fact that He would be made sin for us and would, for the first time, experience the judgment of God and the separation from God’s presence, as God would have to turn away so as not to look on sin. Jesus cried out from the cross (Matthew 27:46), “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus felt suffering, despair, and hopelessness. Imagine enduring the brutal beatings, the insults, and the weight of all the sins of the entire world upon you and being obedient to God unto death, only to feel that He had forsaken you. The truth was, God did not forsake Jesus, and He will never forsake you. Jesus felt every emotion you and I have, or ever will feel. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Jesus hears your prayers. He knows exactly how you feel. You are precious in His sight. He died to save you; does that sound like someone who would leave you? And if you still aren’t convinced, here are a few more scriptures about the faithfulness of our Lord. In Hebrews 13:5, the Lord says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” In Hebrews 13:8 it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
So, if we know that the Word of God is Truth, according to the verses above, Jesus knows how we feel; He will never leave us; He is our refuge and strength; He cannot lie, and He does not change. Remind yourself of past struggles that He has brought you through and praise Him through your current storm. He will never fail you.
Scriptures to lift you up in difficult times:
- Psalm 27:1
- Deuteronomy 31:8
- Psalm23:4
- Job 5:11
- Lamentations 3:22-23
- John 14:27
- Psalm 119:76
- John 16:33
- Matthew 5:4
- Psalm 55:22
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