Has God forgotten about me?

It’s the Holidays!  It’s a joyful season.  There are many things to be thankful for and many things to love.  Happiness is all around, yet a quiet sadness is blanketing you.  It can be there for many reasons.  Whatever the reason, it lurks quietly, making itself comfortable in the deep recesses of your soul, much like when Goldilocks found Baby Bear’s bed to be so perfect.  So perfect, in fact, that she fell fast asleep, content to be in this total stranger’s house.  How do you DO that?!

Do you feel today, that you have been deserted?  Do you find yourself feeling especially alone during this Holiday season?  Do you feel like God is so far away that He has completely forgotten about you?

“How do I go on?  How do I act happy while the kids are getting on my every nerve?  Why does it feel like every single avenue I am trying to take is getting shut down?  Why is that everywhere I look has a grey sheen to it?  How do I keep going on, day after day, with this cloud following on top of my head?!”

When life takes a turn for the better, when you feel you are being led in a new direction, excitement and hope fill every part of who you are.  You start seeing confirmation, signs, feeling clarity, and it starts to consume you.  You take necessary steps to make this new dream, this new found hope, to become your reality.  Hope that says, “Yes!  I am part of a bigger plan here!”  You think, “God sees me and has something important for me and my family.”  But all of a sudden, time starts slipping away.  Life continues day after day with the normal grind and this blinking red target you are sure God sees you as from Heaven must be starting to blend in with the many other blinking red targets of those wanting to be used by Him.  “He must be confused!  He must not know where I AM anymore (as panic starts to set in).  Has He forgotten about me?  Now I am confused!  I thought He had us on this path of being used by Him, of a new adventure in store, but nothing is changing!”  Every door is being shut and the definition of the word “wait” is haunting your every dream.

As it appears that He has forgotten you, it becomes harder and harder to stay focused, to stay upbeat and positive, to feel that kick in your step.  You find yourself slipping, reaching for more tangible things, looking for “stuff” to fill your day, finding it easier to just take care of yourself, not needing “God”, or anyone else for that matter.  He will just continue to let you down, anyway.

But, what if, He hasn’t forgotten about you?  What if He wants to reveal your true character during this time, areas you knew you were strong and where you knew you wouldn’t fall?  What if He needed to take you to this point in your life, where you felt He was no longer present, to show you your lack of strength or character or integrity that you knew you had “in the bag”?  What if, at this time, He wanted to take you to this emptiness of the soul, so that all you would have left to do was to cling to His robe?  This is where true, life-clinging faith, has to come into play.  When you have nothing left, but to trust that for some reason He has you here, in this gloomy, depressing state…for you to cling, to trust.

Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Substance means “reality” and Evidence means “proof”.  What this verse is saying is that faith itself proves that what is unseen is real.

Will you choose Him?  Will you trust that He has not forgotten about you?

Listen to this:

Psalm 19:7-11

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold…

11…and in keeping them there is great reward.

Has God forgotten you?  Us?  Finding these verses and being reminded of His love and good intentions for us as a people, I can clearly see He hasn’t.

Will we feel lonely? 

You can count on it, at times.

Will we find ourselves barely able to get out of bed in the mornings? 

Yes, we will.

Will we hold our hands up to the sky and ask “why”

and “what’s your plan?” 

You can be certain of it.

Will we always understand? 

That answer is a resounding no.

One thing I am sure of though.  If I really take in these verses, read them slowly, soak them in, and have faith…I will see that God wants me to desire these more than gold and that in keeping them, I will receive great reward.  Will He need to “desert” me sometimes to have me see what it is I need to learn about myself or my lack of?  Well, if that’s the case, then bring it on.  I am ready to learn what I need, as He keeps heating me up and scraping away the impurities.  If this means all I can do is cling to Him, trusting in this “doesn’t make sense” plan, then so be it.  May you cling to this verse and may we come out on the other side seeing His perfect timing, His perfect love, and His perfect plan.

2 Corinthians 12:9

“But my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

So get out there and start trusting that the feeling you have that He has deserted you is not out of spite, but out of love.  Go ahead….have “Faith with Abandon”, I dare you.