Monday, December 5, 2011

Feeling Forsaken?



All the ends of the earth shall remember 
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations 
shall worship before you...
Posterity shall serve Him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 
they shall come and proclaim His righteousness
to a people yet unborn, that He 
has done it.
Psalm 22:27,30-31

David was a melancholy, a thinker, and a poet, as well as a prophet.  I feel assured that as he penned Psalm 22, he did not know that he was writing a prophetic Psalm about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Likely he was writing about himself, and yet the details of the Psalm are remarkably accurate.  

I ask myself, "How does this relate to me?  Am I allowed to apply this somehow to my life without compromising the Scriptures?  And I realize that David was applying it to his present situation; therefore, so may I.  God's Word is teaching that we may and must apply to our lives if we are to grasp it and grow.

In verse 1 we read the words of Jesus on the cross as He was dying for the sins of mankind:  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Have you ever felt forsaken by God?  I have.  There have been times when I cried out to the Lord and felt no hint of His presence.  It was as though He had forsaken me.  

I believe that when that happens to us, God has withdrawn the feeling of His presence, perhaps because of sin, or perhaps just to cause us to trust His Word more fully.  So what do we do when these feelings come upon us?  He promised in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us or forsake us.  In John 10:28-29 Jesus told the disciples that no one is able to pluck His sheep out of His hands.  We are securely kept by the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What do we do?  I believe that we are always safe to test ourselves to be sure that we are in the faith.  It's okay!  Paul told the Corinthian church:  "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"  If you pass the test, then rely on the Word of God, the promises of our Savior, assured that He is near.  Our feelings are unreliable; God's Word is our safeguard.

Let us say with David, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praise of Israel" (verse 3) as we "proclaim to the coming generation His righteousness."  (verse 31)

On faith, not feelings,
Gloria  









 

4 comments:

Belinda

What an awesome post Gloria! I'm sure we have all felt "alone" or "forsaken" at some point. How comforting to KNOW that God is always with us and in control.

Cranberry Morning

This is such an important subject, Gloria, and one we all need to learn if we are to grow in the Lord. Feelings are fickle. But God's Word never changes. Intellectually knowing that is one thing; actually believing and implementing that truth is another!

Angelia

when ive felt forsaken, i was alone, even tho God was there, because I was trying to fix things myself. we have to let Him have control

Heather's Blog-o-rama

Whenever I have felt like that, it was usually God's way of telling me that I need to get back into spending regular time with Him, in the Word, Bible study, and prayer...because when I'm not spending time with Him on a regular basis, I'm really grumpy :) :) Thanks for the post today :) Have a great week. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather ;)

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