Forsaken

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?  O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent." 
(Psalm 22:1-2)

It was our first day in Boston.  It was also my mom's first experience with the "T," Massachusett's underground subway system.  Riding the subway was a big step for her.  Keep in mind that Mom has lived the last 15 years of her life in the very small town of Sandy Run, South Carolina, population 5,047.   There, heavy traffic means that the mailman AND the UPS man drive down the road on the same day.

So there we were in Boston, about to embark on a grand adventure, when something went terribly wrong.  My mom and daughter stepped onto the subway train, and I did not.  The doors closed and they were gone, hurtling down the rail at 40 miles per hour.  In the wrong direction.  Away from me.

David, the author of Psalm 22, felt the same way as my mother as the train raced down the track farther and farther away from where she wanted to be.  He felt forsaken.  "My God," David cried, "My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?  O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent."

Sometimes we feel forsaken too.  Maybe we have cried until we think there isn't another tear left in our bodies, and then we cry some more.  Maybe we have felt abandoned, afraid, or hopeless.  Despite our earnest prayers, God seems far away, and we feel so alone.  We begin to wonder, like David (and my Mom), if the one who was supposed to be taking care of them had fallen asleep on the job. Or worse yet, didn't care.

Scripture describes David as a man after God's own heart.  Even in the depths of his hopelessness and despair, he arrived at the proper conclusion. Listen to his words:

" But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
  Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
  They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed."

When his emotions told him that God had forsaken him, David remembered God's faithfulness in the past, and chose to trust Him for the future.  That's what faith is.  It is not a blind leap in the dark.  It is placing our trust in God based on what He has done in the past. The same God who rescued King David from the hands of his enemies is the same God who rescues you.  And me.  And my mom on the subway.

David remembered, "You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God."

Do you feel forsaken today?  Are you struggling to trust God for the future?  If you are, cling to the promise of Hebrews 13:5.  "He (God) has said, "Never will I leave you.  Never will I forsake you."  Trust Him for the future based on what He has done in the past.  Your trust will not be misplaced.

As for my mom on the Boston T, my quick thinking daughter remembered Newton's Third Law of Physics that states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and applied it to the train system.  She ushered my mom off the northbound train at the next stop, crossed the platform to where the southbound trains were departing, climbed aboard, and arrived back at our original stop before I had time to formulate a game plan.  Your rescue may not be as speedy, but you can rest assured that deliverance is near.

God bless you as you grow in faith and trust.

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