Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.-John 6:68

[for] all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,-Romans 3:23

 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?        Numbers 23:19

  “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”- 2 Chron. 15:2

 

You Never Left Me

Lord, I rock my body for comfort
As I sit alone in the dark.
Fear is paralyzing my mind
As I watch my world fall apart.
Where can I turn for comfort?
And Lord please tell me to who?
For, I will not heed this voice
Telling me I should turn to you.
You know I can no longer do that.
No matter how loud you call my name.
For, you and I both know, Lord
You are the cause of all of this pain.
I hear my mournful keening
As my world comes to an end.
Lord, you were my only comfort
My only loyal friend.
And now I’m lost without you
With no safe place to turn.
My heart is in broken pieces
And your cruel betrayal burns.
Why would you forsake me?
When you promised not to leave?
Now, my trust in you is shattered
I have no faith left to retrieve.

Suddenly, I realize that I’m praying.
Asking for relief in your name.
I believe it’s just an old habit;
But I must admit I’m in less pain.
When I realize I’m no longer rocking,
I wonder if this whole drama was my choice.
Then, as I admit that you never left me
I pray “Please forgive me” in a quiet voice.
I realize you can only give me comfort
If in my darkness I reach for your light.
And Lord, to whom else would I go
For your words of eternal life?
©Linda Troxell June 4, 2019

 

Has God Forsaken You?

How many times have you asked the Lord why He has forsaken you? Oh, maybe you didn’t use those exact words. Maybe you said, “Lord, do you even hear me?” or maybe the words you used to accuse Him of forsaking you were, “Lord, why are you doing this to me?” or, “Lord, sometimes I wonder if you even care about me.” There are probably as many variations on the why have you forsaken me question as there are Christians praying for God’s intervention.

I know I’m certainly guilty of it If I had a nickel…well, you know how that goes. But I would honestly have a nice little nest egg if I received money for every time I was angry at God and felt forsaken for something I wanted but did not get, or something I got but did not want.

I’ve heard that our sin can stand in the way of God’s blessings. But surely my sin isn’t on that level. In fact, frequently, I can’t think of any sins of which I need to repent. How about you? Have you ever had a tough time thinking of something to repent of in your daily prayers?

Oh, I’m not talking about telling ourselves we aren’t sinners; that would be plain crazy. The Bible clearly tells us we are all sinners, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. That scripture basically tells us that if we are still on this earth we are still sinners.

Is That Really a Sin?

I’m only saying that we tell ourselves that what we do isn’t really a sin. It’s ironic that we would make this claim when, just by doing so, we are committing a sin.  We are lying to ourselves and others and certainly to God. If we’re honest we are aware of many sins for which we need to repent. In fact, I’m aware of some sins of which I need to repent daily. If you’re honest, I’m sure you can too.

I think the problem is that many of us want to think of our everyday sins as just bad habits we need to work on rather than actual sins. But God doesn’t look at it that way. In His eyes all sin is detestable. In fact, He sacrificed His son to redeem our sins for just that reason. He knew we humans wouldn’t recognize our sins, let alone seek forgiveness for them.

But the sin I want to talk about here is one I don’t think most of us have ever considered.  And if it has crossed our minds, it’s a sin which most of us probably don’t believe we are powerful enough or significant enough to commit. I’m referring to the sin of forsaking God. I’m sure many of us don’t believe we can forsake God. But we can.

Can We Forsake God?

The definition of forsake is to abandon, leave, turn away from, give up on, or reject something or someone. According to this definition, we have all forsaken God at some time, to some extent. It could be as seemingly innocuous as being angry at God when we don’t get what we want and turning away from Him until our anger is gone.

Or, more seriously, it could be on the other end of that spectrum and we walk away from God and our practice of Christianity altogether. It’s not uncommon for many of us to hold God responsible for the state of our happiness and our feelings of wellbeing. When we don’t get what want or when we are unhappy we often blame God and we decide He has forsaken us. And so, we reject Him, at least for a while.

Or, maybe, we forsake God by telling Him that we trust Him with our cares. We ask Him to take the burden of our cares and resolve them in a way that meets His will. But soon we become anxious and we worry about the outcome. The worry and anxiety is a message to God that we don’t really trust Him. That we either believe that He can’t resolve our problems or that we don’t trust Him to do so. In either case, we have given up on God, at least for this situation.

It’s Not a Sin to be Mad at God

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that every time we are frustrated with God or angry at Him we have forsaken Him. That certainly depends more on the degree of our anger and what we do about it. But we do have to be careful about how we treat God. Because what starts out as harmless frustration can turn into sin before we know it.

It may begin by pouting and talking to ourselves about how unfair God is. Then it might escalate to complaining to a friend about how God never seems to give us what we want. Perhaps, then we go on to vent about how much we deserve it and we don’t know why He doesn’t want us to have it. In doing this have we committed a sin? Have we forsaken God?

I think it depends on how long we nurse our anger before we take it to God. I’m sure it must depend on the level of vitriol in our anger. Have we insulted God by blaming Him for everything?  Maybe, in telling our friend He’s unfair we are calling God names, or gossiping about Him. Perhaps, in concluding that He doesn’t want us to have what we want we are defaming God. I think only God really knows the answer. But I think we have a sense of how close we are.

Forsaking God Has Consequences

There is a story in the Bible, in 2 Chronicles, of King Asa who God had made the king of Judah. King Asa had the favor of God because Asa was faithful to the Lord by removing all idols from Judah and requiring all of Judah to seek after God and keep His laws. In return for his faithfulness, God helped Asa to conquer armies far greater than his own, to provide for his country, and be a generally good ruler.

For 35 years Asa was faithful to the Lord. Then, in Asa’s 36^th year Judah was threatened by the king of Israel who had a peace treaty with the king of Syria. Asa did not turn to God for help this time. Instead, he went to the king of Syria bringing him gold and silver to convince him to end his treaty with the king of Israel and help Asa to conquer Israel’s army.

The King of Syria agreed and together the two kings defeated Israel. But after the defeat, Asa’s seer came to him and told him that he had angered God by forsaking Him. Because Asa didn’t rely on God for protection but sought the king of Syria, God was removing His grace from Asa and would no longer protect him or Judah in battle. After that Asa was plagued by many wars.

Asa never asked God for forgiveness nor did he ever reach out to God again. You have probably guessed that King Asa did not fare well after forsaking God. All we need to know about forsaking God is in this short scripture. “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”–2 Chronicles 15:2.

Admittedly, our forsaking is not commonly on the level of turning our back on God completely as Asa did. And I’m sure God is not going to really forsake us in return for the minor forsaking we do. Still, we must be careful; who’s to say there won’t be some negative consequence.

It’s Not About the Consequences  

The consequences are not the most important reason we don’t want to forsake God. No matter the level of forsaking, be it turning our back on God for an hour or, like Asa, never coming back, forsaking God on any level hurts Him. I don’t think any of us wants that.

For the most part, I don’t think our tantrums or griping and complaining really affect God. Our tantrums really amount to nothing more than feeling sorry for ourselves. They probably amuse God somewhat as parents are amused with the tantrums of their toddlers. As long as it doesn’t go on too long and as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. Still, we must be careful about what we say to God. We must not feel free to insult Him.

So does this mean that we must hide our anger and disappointment from God for the risk that we might forsake Him or insult Him? Certainly not. God wants us to bring everything to Him. In the times that we are disappointed by life or hurt by what has come our way, God wants us to bring that to Him.

It’s About the Relationship

God wants to comfort us in bad times and celebrate with us in good time. He doesn’t even mind if we tell Him we are disappointed or angry at Him. He doesn’t mind if we tell him we don’t understand why He would do something that we didn’t like. In our relationship with God, we are free to talk about anything as long as we’re respectful.

But can you imagine how God feels when our tantrums last a few hours, or maybe a few days? How do you think He feels when we call Him names and we treat Him in ways we would never treat our friends or family? Often, we don’t even bother to apologize once we’re over it. We just come back to Him in prayer as if nothing has happened. We never acknowledge that our behavior was unacceptable or ask Him to forgive us.

I understand that some of us do treat our friends and families that way. Many of us were raised in families in which our parents often lashed out, insulting others by saying things in anger that they really didn’t mean. Where there was never an apology but after a period of time, when the leader of the family was ready, (in my house it was my dad) we just went on as if nothing had happened.

But God is not human, He doesn’t say things He doesn’t mean. He is not a member of our earthly family who changes moods and feelings out of the blue. God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind, does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?-Numbers 23:19 He doesn’t throw tantrums, nor should He have to make accommodations for us in those times that we are hostile and insulting to Him.

Does Forsaking Equal Blasphemy?

Yes, He is omnipotent so He already knew it would happen. And He already knew we would get over it. And yes, He does know our heart and knows we’re sorry. But, still, I think He merits an apology. Don’t you?  He is the ruler of the universe and He is flawless. He is all love and all good and blesses us each and every day.

We need to be mindful of these things.  No matter how we were raised, we know it isn’t acceptable to lash out at our friends or our family. And more so, unacceptable to lash out at God. Nor should we blame God for all of the bad things that happen. Especially not when we overlook the good things, giving him no praise or glory for them. It is dangerous, if not blasphemy, to insult God. And to my way of thinking, blaming our God who we know is all good for our misfortune is insulting.

Whether or not it rises to the level of blasphemy, I think this kind of behavior toward God is a sin. I think it is forsaking God. And while I don’t think it’s necessarily blasphemy, there are those who do. I read one definition of blasphemy that said this:  Blasphemy, then, involves speaking a word against God. It is a verbal sin, one that is committed with the mouth or the pen. It is a desecration of the holy character of God. It can involve insulting Him, mocking Him, or dishonoring Him. In a sense, it is the opposite of praise.

 When you began reading, maybe you didn’t believe yourself powerful enough or significant enough to forsake God. I hope I’ve changed your mind. It’s important because the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 15:2, that if we forsake God, He will forsake us. I don’t want God to be forced to forsake any of His children. Because I know it hurts Him to do so. But as important as that is to me, it is more important that the God of the universe not be insulted or forsaken by those He loves so much.

Let’s Pray
Lord, some of us have never even considered the fact that we could forsake you and that it might be hurtful to you. Lord that’s because we are unable to think of ourselves as worthy and important enough to have any effect on you. And Lord, I know that many of us still believe that to be humility. But God I’ve recently come to understand that as a child of yours, the creator of the universe, I am insulting you by thinking of myself as small and insignificant. For, how Lord, can I believe in your glory and magnificence yet believe that I, as your child, am not magnificent as well? Lord, I am so sorry for all of the times that I have turned away from you in anger and ignorance, forsaking you and insulting you. And, Lord, I am so sorry that I have been unable to accept that as the child of the one true God I am righteous and holy. I am willing to change that idea, but Lord, I will need your help. Because I have thought of myself as small and unimportant for so long that I don’t really know how to see myself differently. But if you will help me I will try, whenever I picture myself or look at myself, to see what you see, not me but Christ who lives in me.  Thank you for your patience and unconditional Love, Lord
Amen

 

Points to Ponder or for Prayer. Or Perhaps to Put Pen to Paper.

• Have you ever before thought that you could possibly forsake God? Why or Why not
• Have you ever thought that God had forsaken you? If yes, write a bit about the where, when, why, and what of that story.
• When you have been angry at God, or maybe just disappointed, have you turned away from Him for a period of time?    If you have, what is the longest amount of time you have turned away?    Did you think you had forsaken God? When you came back to God in prayer did you apologize to Him?
• Do you believe that as the child of the one holy and true God, creator of the universe, you are magnificent and holy too?