On the cross, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Have you ever felt forsaken?
- Sometimes we wonder:
- He promised He would never leave me, so why am I so lonely?
- I read stories in the Bible of God doing miracles and speaking to His people. Why doesn’t He do the same for me?
- When I pray, I feel my words bounce off the ceiling. Where are You, God?
- I’m supposed to have an abundant life but I feel like my life is a dry, barren desert.
- We’re in good company. People in the Bible wondered the same thing.
- David said, “To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock. Do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.” (Ps. 28:1)
- David also said, “I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Ps. 63:1)
- The prophet Habakkuk said “How long shall I cry and You will not hear?” (Hab. 1:2)
- When Job lost everything, he said, “I cry out to you, God, but You do not answer; I stand up, but You merely look at me.” (Job 30:20)
When it happens to you, you have three choices.
Choice #1: Give up.
You can say, “God isn’t answering. He obviously doesn’t care about me. I’m done praying. I quit.” Many other people have done the same.
Choice #2: Keep praying.
Jesus tells us to keep on keeping on. Don’t give up.
In the Bible, a gentile woman asks Jesus for help. He ignores her. God is silent. He is not answering prayers. Especially not her prayers.
Matthew 15:22-28 (NKJV) And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
She quits asking and starts worshiping. He still ignores her, but SHE KEEPS ASKING.
Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
She didn’t give up. Her great faith was eventually rewarded.
Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
There is an old song that goes like this: Don’t give up on the brink of a miracle Don’t give up, God is still on the throne Don’t give up on the brink of a miracle Don’t give up, remember you’re not alone
Choice #3: Quit asking and just worship
Just like we don’t give our children everything they ask for, sometimes God says “no” to us. And other times, there are many years between the request and the answer. What do you do until then?
You can be like David and use God’s silence as a catalyst for a deeper faith. HE TURNED HIS DESERT INTO A PLACE OF PRAYER. Read Psalms. You will see David in the depths of despair in one verse and on the mountaintops of worship a few verses later.
You may not get your answer, but YOU WILL GET A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, and that is more valuable than whatever you were praying to receive.
There in the wilderness, he wrote Psalm 63.
O God, You are my God; early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You .Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by Him shall glory, but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
Try taking Psalm 63 and pray it as your own prayer. When David prays about his enemies, substitute the words “my finances” or “this toxic relationship.” Many other Psalms also work well as prayers. Here are a few: Psalm 3, 4, 5, 9, 27, and 28. You will be pleasantly surprised how your worries slip away and be replaced by joy.
You may not get your answer, but you will get a deeper relationship with God, and that is more valuable that whatever you were praying to receive.
Jesus felt forsaken while on the cross, but look what happened a couple days later. The greatest miracle in history!
The picture of the heart-shaped hole in a rock is one I took on a beach in Maui. Pretty cool! It seemed appropriate to put here as we just talked about David saying, “To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock.” His hard times caused him to learn the secret of worship and helped him grow into becoming “a man after God’s own heart.”
