Never Forsaken - Martin Wiles

My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help? Psalm 22:1 NLT

I had a few chickens and a couple of ducks, why not add a goat?

The call came from a church member: “I have a goat whose mother won’t nurse her. Would you like to have her?

“Sure, why not,” I said. I’d bottle fed a pig some years earlier. Why not try a goat.

We made her a bed in our utility shed. My schedule was flexible—unlike the rest of the family, so feeding her fell to me: morning, noon, evening, before bed, and once in the middle of the night. When she was weaned, I placed her in the pen with the chickens and ducks. She was more of a pet than a farm animal. Gracie discovered being forsaken by her mom didn’t mean everyone would forsake her.

Why the psalmist felt forsaken and penned this psalm, I’m not sure. But Jesus used the same words while hanging on the cross dying for the sins of humanity. He said it because He was bearing the full weight of the world’s sins. Being the holy God that He is, His heavenly Father had to turn away in that moment. How the Divine could turn from the Divine is unexplainable, but it was only momentary. When the deed was done, God accepted what His Son had accomplished, raised Him from a grave, and received Him back into heaven. 

I’ve felt the pains of being forsaken by others: peers who thought I was different and didn’t want anything to do with me, work associates who thought I attended to my responsibilities too intricately, church members who didn’t like the changes I suggested, and others who were turned off by my faith stand. 

Being forsaken happens in life. Though others forsake us for various reasons, God will only do so for one reason: unbelief. Even then, He continues to prick our consciences with His Spirit, desiring that we repent of our sins and trust Him. As His child, He’ll never turn His back on us. Even when we’re unfaithful to Him, He’ll be faithful to us. He made the promise that He’ll never leave or forsake us. And we can depend on His word. 

Gracie may have felt forsaken, but she wasn’t. We may feel God has turned His back on us, but He never does. 

Prayer: Father, we thank You that we can always be sure You are by our side.

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