We Feel Abandoned

Scripture: Jeremiah 20:7-8

O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived;
You have overcome me and prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.
For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I proclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the word of the Lord has resulted
In reproach and derision all day long.

Insights: I incorrectly titled yesterday’s sermon The Emotional Cycle of God’s Pilgrims.  It ought to have been titled Some of the Emotions of God’s Pilgrims.  The reason is because the emotions we are going to look at this week are not dependent upon the preceding emotion.  Nor are all of the emotions that are mentioned this week the complete list of emotions we might experience.  These are just a handful of them.  In today’s verses we find out that Jeremiah felt abandoned by God.  He actually felt as if God had lied to him regarding his ministry and purpose.  The reason he felt this way was because the work was harder than he had anticipated.  Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he wept for the people and also because he wept for himself and all of his difficult experiences.  No one wants to be made fun of or ridiculed and that is exactly what Jeremiah was experiencing.  In these moments of deep depression he felt as if God had left him alone in the midst of his pain.  We today may not be experiencing exactly what Jeremiah did, but many of us have experienced a time in which the Lord was silent and it felt as if He had abandoned us.  Satan uses our emotions against us a lot.  The truth of the Scripture is that God has never left us or abandoned us.  He is always with His own and He is their defender and fortress.  Beloved, even Jesus, in His humanity, felt as if God had abandoned Him when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me.”  We know, however, from the very Psalm Jesus was quoting that the Lord had not abandoned Him because we are told in that very same Psalm, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.  You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.  For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard (22:22-24).”  The point being, Beloved, is God does not abandoned His children, no matter what we feel.

Questions:

1.  Have you ever experienced a time in which you felt abandoned by the Lord?

2.  Have you come to realize that the Lord has not abandoned you; rather, it only feels that way?

Prayer: Father, thank You for never leaving me or forsaking me.  You are always with me no matter what I feel.  Help me to not allow my emotions to dictate my actions and decisions.  Amen.