Would God ever forsake you? No!
God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
God’s Plans for you will always be good.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares The Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
However, as God works out those Plans, they may not seem good to us. God knew that. That is why He was very careful to let Jesus demonstrate the deep emotional feelings we might have about His Plan.
Jesus knew what was ahead of Him. Knowing what seems for all intents and purposes to be a very bad plan can be very anxiety provoking.
God allowed Jesus to express very human emotions.
He entered the grief of Mary and Martha, whose brother had died. Jesus wept with them.
He cried over those in Jerusalem who refused to accept The Gift He wanted to give them.
In the garden, He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
Matthew 26:38
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and His Sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Luke 22:44
As Jesus contemplated the road ahead of Him, He asked The Father if He could please have another Plan.
God allows us to have doubts. He allows us to ask for another Plan. But He also wants us to say as Jesus did, “Nevertheless, Your Will be done.”
Then we come to Jesus’ Words from the cross that caused satan to believe his victory was complete. It wasn’t.
But satan has continued to quote Jesus’ Words for centuries to drive home the feeling that God will abandon us.
Satan says, “See! He even turned away from His Own Son and His Son knew God had forsaken Him.”
So how do we make sense of Jesus’ Words,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Mark 15:34
First of all, remember God is God revealed in Jesus. Jesus and God are One. God cannot abandon Himself.
Next, remember part of the purpose of God revealing Himself as a human is to show us virtual pictures of situations we might be in on earth. God shows us through Jesus that He understands how it will be for us.
God shows us we can question Him, we can express our emotions, we can ask Him to change the Plan and yes, when things really get rough, He understands we may cry out and wonder if He is still there.
But He is true to His Word.
God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
So know that no matter what you are going through, you can cry out to God. If you ask Him if He is there, He will always answer with His Name.
I AM!
I AM with you always!
Matthew 28:20
Carolyn, this devotion was absolutely something that I needed to hear! My friend’s dad in law is in the ICU. He is a believer & is in need of
a miracle! May His will be done! He will NEVER leave or forsake us! Never!! Thank you for being so faithful to continue to pray for us & to encourage us! We love you guys!