Abandoned

Mark 15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at 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?”
 
JESUS’ cry from the cross rings tragically through the ages. “Why, my Jehovah, the One who is Eternal, Deliverer, why have you abandoned me, your Son?” Alone in agony on the cross, the Son of Man cries out. He wants an answer we often need to know. “Why have you abandoned me, God? Have you left me to die? Have you allowed my enemies to triumph? Why, God, have you not saved me from this distress? You promised you would always be my God. Why am I all alone?”
   Sometimes the answer comes. God will comfort your distress through a word from his Scripture, a prayer from a friend or other means of grace he uses to care for you. Sometimes there is no answer. The question lingers until the day God brings you into his eternal care.
   Jesus was quoting from David’s plea in Psalms 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? Much of this psalm is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ crucifixion. David, God’s chosen servant, was in great distress. His enemies surrounded him. In a like manner, Jesus, the Son of David, was surrounded with violent people who cried out for his death.
   David learned through his trial that his God had not abandoned him to death. From his spiritual and emotional isolation, David would rise to write many powerful songs of praise and thanksgiving. Even in this psalm, David changed his focus to express a loving worship of his God: Psalms 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
   The psalm then continues to praise God for his eternal reign Psalm 22:30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the LORD. 
   God’s Word is true. He doesn’t’ tell us all is good all the time. He openly reveals to us that even those he has called to special work have experienced times of emotional separation from him. God tells us through these mini biographies that life can overwhelm even the most faithful. The LORD also teaches us he is always present with them. He is a Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6), who knows what to say and do to restore the joy of our salvation.
   Are you asking, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus knows what you are enduring. He has experienced it in human agony. He also knows the joy of reuniting with the Father. Stay with Jesus, and he’ll lead you home to the Father, too.