Before you are too hard on yourself, even Jesus felt abandoned by the Father, "My God My God, why have you forsaken me?!" Did God really forsake Jesus as He hung on the cross? Scholars debate, but I look to the resurrection and have to conclude, no, God did not, ultimately forsake Jesus.
The biggest complaint I think is when we feel we have done what is right and somehow God owes us for being good. The very principles of reaping and sowing dictate: "Do good things and good things happen."
What if the principles of reaping and sowing work the same way as real reaping and sowing. You know, you work your butt off in the field and then you wait months for a harvest. What if, we, in our microwave society, are unrealistic when we expect instant reward for good behavior? And really, what is good behavior, anyway? Is good behavior when we sin less than our neighbor or less than we did last week? These are all questions we must really ponder when we are questioning God's goodness and care.
If a farmer's tractor breaks down while sowing his field, he understands that tractors break. The farmer is still going to reap his harvest in due time, his sowing will be rewarded. In the mean time, he has to fix his tractor. If I do, what I think, are good deeds this week and then I get in a car accident, that does not mean I am forsaken by God, it means that while I am waiting to reap my harvest, I happened to have gotten into a car accident. Life happens and God doesn't promise us exemption from bad days.
When life goes awry, sometimes, it is because we have failed to do one of two things:
1. We failed to seek God on a particular matter or decision
2. We fail to heed God's leading after we pray.
In Jeremiah 40-42 we see the account of Gedaliah and Johannan. One a good guy and one a bad guy, both come to a bad end because they failed in one of the 2 aforementioned ways. Geddy, failed to seek God. Geddy was warned that a guy he thought was a friend wanted to kill him. Geddy failed to seek God's counsel, trusted the wrong guy and was killed. God did not forsake Geddy, Geddy trusted his own judgment rather than seeking God.
As much as I like to think I have good judgment, as I look over my life, I realize I need to seek God more on decisions!
Johnny, on the other hand, sought out God and then directly disobeyed the Word of the Lord. Johnny sought God's advice on traveling to Egypt, God told Johnny no through a prophet and Johnny declared, "that is not the answer God gave!" Johnny went to Egypt and died. Was Johnny forsaken by God? No, he ignored God and things fell apart.
The bottom line is, God promises to never leave us nor forsake us and He promises that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. What God does not promise us is a good day every day. After all, Jesus never did anything wrong, ever, and He was abandoned by all loved ones, beaten and nailed to a cross. Now that was a bad day! Did Jesus feel abandoned by God - He sure did. Was Jesus abandoned by God - He sure wasn't.
Sowing good does not lead to immediate reward, it is a harvest that sometimes takes time. Failing to seek God and trusting your own judgment may lead to some very poor decisions with consequences and failing to heed God's word to will also lead to consequences you will not enjoy. None of this constitutes God's abandonment. God did not forsake me when I had an accident yesterday, I just had an accident... I trust Psalm 119:90-91 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
Thanks for taking the time to read, please feel free to comment below.
I do appreciate your casual style and the solid Bible teaching.
ReplyDeleteThanks brother, I appreciate the encouragement.
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