You Can Trust God By Nina Smit Exemplo

Forsaken by God

Because He was fully human, even Jesus experienced disappointment with His Father in Gethsemane and on the cross, because God did not take away the cup of suffering, even when Jesus pleaded with Him to do so.

But that is exactly why Jesus came to earth: to bear our sins in His body and in so doing, settle the debt for our sin in order that we could be forgiven for what we have done—now and in the future.

Philip Yancey says that anybody who feels disappointed by God should pause for a while in Gethsemane, at Pilate’s palace and at Golgotha—the scenes of Jesus’ arrest, trial and execution. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He prayed so earnestly that His sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood (see Luke 22:44), but God was silent. At Pilate’s palace, the angry crowd insisted on a miracle; and at the cross they mocked Him, saying He should save Himself from the cross—that He who saved others couldn’t even save Himself. 

Eventually Jesus cried out to God: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46, NKJV). Yet moments later He announced: “It is finished!” (John 19:30, NKJV). The work for which God sent Jesus to earth was complete.

Jesus endured all of this so that you and I need never be forsaken by God. We can know that He will always be with us to help us, even in times of trouble, so that we don’t need to be disappointed in Him.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I worship You as the one Person who was willing to be forsaken by God so that I could always have Him by my side. Please help me to be mindful of this during Easter time. Amen.