"Managing Your Emotions"~~Week Three Review~~Abandonment

I have to tell you girls that studying, preparing for you, and teaching this study is doing me a world of good. These are Romans 12:2 moments, renewing our minds. And if this is even a word~~it's transformational! I just may get spell-checked on that one. Seriously though...looking at these real life issues and emotions according to the truth of the Word of God is a mind-renewing thang! God's Word truly doesn't return to Him void. It's accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it. At least it is in me, and I'm prayin', prayin', prayin' that it is doing the same for you. I hope that you're not just listening in class, but that you are truly taking the principles that we're learning and applying them in your every day life. Let's review last night's class.

At one time or another we ask God questions like, "Are you there? Do you even care"? You have moments where it seems that God has gone away on sabbatical, and left you to fend for yourself. It seems as if He's locked the doors and pulled the shades on the windows of Heaven, and He just doesn't hear you anymore. You feel forsaken, forgotten, desolate, alone and ABANDONED. We can find strength by looking to the Word of God for examples, warnings and encouragement during those times where we feel abandoned. (See 1 Corinthians 10:11)

Scripture tells us the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David and Esther. We read about Peter, James, John and Paul. At one time or another we know that these folks felt alone, deserted and abandoned in their situations. They went through trials. At times they were totally confused, and unaware that God was with them through it all.

Drawing on our past lessons, we KNOW that we cannot live our lives by what things "feel" like. Our feelings cannot be the lead car on the train of our life, right? We must know, and believe truth. If you know the histories of all the people I mentioned above, you know that things weren't always what they seemed to be in their situations. God was there for each and every one of them. He's no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). If He was there in their crisis, He's in yours as well. If they weren't abandoned, you aren't abandoned.

How many times have you prayed for something, and God didn't answer quite the way you wanted Him to? But then, on the other side of your mountain, maybe even years later, the light goes on and you say, "Ahh, I see now. God knew what He was doing. He was there". Hindsight's always 20/20, but we have to believe, in the midst of our trouble, that God is present. He is there. He has a perfect plan, and He'll be there until the storm has passed, and beyond. If you trust your feelings, you'll lose heart, because you won't always "feel" His presence. But that doesn't mean that He's not there. Facts are facts. He has promised to NEVER leave you or forsake you. He's there. Right where you are.

We looked at three Scriptures that contained basically the same words:
Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5 and Hebrews 13:5.

In the Old Testament passages, in the Hebrew, those words mean, "I won't drop you or ABANDON you". How exciting is that when our topic is ..abandonment? That's why I love God's Word! In the Greek used in Hebrews 13:5, the word "never", means "never under any circumstances ever, will I leave you". We may "feel" abandoned. But the truth is that we are NEVER, under any circumstances EVER, left or abandoned by God. We may be abandoned by a parent, a spouse, or a friend, but we are NEVER, under any circumstances EVER, left or abandoned by God. That's enough truth to call this lesson a wrap. But let's go further.

Read Genesis 28:10-22. Jacob was in trouble, running from his brother Esau. All he could see was his trouble. In that passage, Jacob admitted that he had no clue that God was in the place where he lay his head on those stones to rest. But God WAS there and He gave Jacob some great and precious promises. Jacob made a memorial out of his stone pillows to remind any future travelers that God was in that place. He named it Bethel, house of God. Because He realized that God was there, right with him, all the time.

We need to set up some memorials of our own to the Lord. Memorials of His faithfulness to us, so that the next time we're feeling alone and abandoned, we can look back at that memorial stone, and know that we are NEVER left alone. That memorial could be a list of all the times in your life that God has provided for you. All the times He's delivered you from harm. All of the prayers He's answered and especially all of those times you realized that He had been there all along. The next time discouragement or feelings of abandonment set in, get out that list, and encourage yourself in the Lord and in His faithfulness to you throughout the years. Remember that He's the same faithful God, yesterday, today and forevermore (Hebrews 13:8).

Read 1 Samuel 7: 10-13. I have an Ebenezer stone that I received last year sitting right outside my side door. Every time I see that stone, I purposefully remember, "Thus far has the Lord helped us". If I had a stone for every time God helped me, I'd have built a really tall wall. What I didn't tell you girls last night was that in the very place Israel got the victory over the Philistines, they had been defeated previously. The place of defeat became a place of victory! Just because you've been defeated before, don't give up! God is able to turn YOUR place of defeat into a place of victory for you!

God will NEVER let you down. You may not understand. You may think your plan is better. You may not be too keen on the timing of it all. But He will never disappoint you, harm you or abandon you. He says so in His Word. He is true and faithful to every single, solitary one of His promises. Don't wait to feel it. Believe it! And one day you'll be setting up another memorial to God because you'll be saying, "Surely He was in that place", wherever that place might be for you today. You'll look back and say, "I survived"! You WILL survive! You'll survive because you are not abandoned. God is there, full of grace and mercy. "Thus far the Lord has helped you". Right in the middle of your situation today say, "Surely the Lord is in this place". Because you know what? He is!

We walked with some folks in the Word who at one time felt just like we do. We looked at what they could teach us to apply in our own feelings of abandonment.

Review Psalm 22. Remember that it was written by David sometime around 900 B.C. The correlation to Jesus, nine centuries later, is amazing. Both David and Jesus cried out to God, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? Review verses 16 and 18 for parallels between David and Jesus. Psalm 22 is part prophecy, as it looks ahead to Jesus some 900 years in the future. But it's also a psalm of emotion that people have identified with throughout the centuries.

When Jesus spoke those words in Matthew 27: 46 and Mark 15: 34, the Greek literally meant, "for what reason did You ABANDON me"? Ever asked God that very same question? David was a man suffering and feeling abandoned by God. Jesus didn't merely feel abandoned. He WAS abandoned in a judicial sense. He was bearing the curse of sin, and God's full judgment on sin. He experienced the full horror of separation from God, who cannot look on sin. This is the answer to Jesus' question, "Why"? It was to die for sinners that Jesus had to experience this abandonment. God always has a plan and a purpose for what He does. Even in the death of His one and only Son. The bonus is that because Jesus felt those feelings of abandonment, our High Priest can sympathize with us! Hallelujah! He died forsaken so that WE would never be forsaken. Because of what Christ did on the Cross, we can claim those words in Hebrews 13:5 as our own, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you".

When we insist on believing that we've been abandoned and forgotten by God, I believe that we insult Christ and what He did on the Cross. He was abandoned and forsaken so that we would NEVER, under any circumstances EVER, be left or abandoned by God. No matter what! Add that to your list of all of the amazing things that Christ has done for you!

Look back at Psalm 22: 4-5. David has felt utterly forsaken. He cries out to God day and night and gets no answer. God seems so far away and silent. I believe that it is right here, in these verses that David starts to think that it's him. There must be something about him that is causing God to not hear him or answer him. He's thinking, "God...you did it for THEM, why not for ME?" Ever asked that question?

It's hard to sit by with any decorum while other people seem to be getting their blessings and all of their prayers answered. You naturally start to think it's you, don't you? David did. He says, "You delivered THEM, you saved THEM, THEY weren't disappointed by you. But me....I am a worm!" Do you ever think, "What have I done? I must have done something wrong for God to be ignoring my cries day and night". Anybody?

Nothing in this psalm indicates that God's distance was due to David's sin. At other points in his life it was clearly stated that he was suffering the repercussions and consequences of his sin. But in Psalm 22, there is not one word about David's sin or confession of sin. David actually acknowledges his faith in God, but he still finds no answer. We sometimes subscribe to the ancient doctrine of "divine retribution". If you're successful and wealthy, then God likes you. If your life is painful and difficult, you have hidden sin and are under God's judgment. Review John 9: 1-25 for an example. The Book of Job also reveals this widespread belief in the ancient world. We do go through times of divine discipline. No doubt about that. But never assume that you or anyone you know is going through troubles due to their sin.

I asked God why He would let us go through these silent times and through these times of feeling so abandoned. If He's told us that He'll never leave us or forsake us, why does He allow us to go through something that SO seems to contradict that truth? Here's what I believe He told me.

God wants to build our muscles of faith because of Hebrews 11:6. Faith pleases God. The muscles of our faith have to be exercised. We need resistance and load to work the muscles of our faith, just as resistance and load must be placed on muscle in the natural. When God seems silent and Heaven seems closed, that is the resistance and the load being put on the muscle of our faith to work it. Right there God is saying, "Will you believe me? Will you trust me? Will you trust me over your feelings, your experiences and your sensations that can lie to you"?

Spiritually dry times come to work and exercise the muscles of our faith. Will we keep on believing God even when we meet resistance from the enemy, from other people, from what we can see, or even from our own thoughts? If we can do that, if we can push against the resistance and the load, our faith muscles will grow stronger and stronger and next time...our muscle of faith will be better prepared to handle the load. Read 1 Peter 1: 6-7.

Times of silence and feelings of abandonment will test our staying power. We may start out trusting God, but as time goes on, and the answer doesn't come, we start to give in to our feelings that God just doesn't care. We turn from Him and start turning to other things to meet our need, give us our answer, or fix our problem. We stop waiting on God. Read Isaiah 30:15-18 and Isaiah 50: 10-11 to see how God feels about that!

We need to stand. We need to stand our ground. Grounded on the Word of God. And after we've done everything...stand. Review Ephesians 6: 10-17.

We may also go through the spiritual dry times and seeming abandonment times to examine ourselves. When it seems that the windows of heaven are closed, and God has gone away, what are we yearning for? Think on this honestly. Are you yearning for your answer? Or are you yearning for God? It seems like He's gone, and you just can't stand to be without Him! Is it the seeming absence of HIM that makes you cry out, or is it a longing for the gifts from His hand? God wants us to long for Him, not His gifts. He wants us to love Him and want Him more than life. When He feels a long way off, are you hungry and thirsty for HIM? Maybe God's waiting to hear you say, "I've got to have YOU! I don't even care anymore if you give me what I want. Just give me YOU. I can't stand not having YOU one more day"! What are you truly longing for? Is it Him? Or is it your answer? Tough stuff! Face yourself honestly in the mirror. It may be time for an attitude adjustment. Could that be what God's had in mind all along?

Go back to Psalm 22. Did you notice that something happened right in between the lines of verses 21 and 22? David's situation didn't change; David changed. All of a sudden David became confident that he had been heard. In the Hebrew text, the last part of verse 21 breaks off right in the middle of the prayer and states, "You have heard". Right there, David received a breakthrough. A change of mind and a change of heart. His whole perspective changed and for the rest of the psalm he would praise God for his future deliverance and he would turn his attention outward to other people. He now wanted to encourage other people to trust in God. He wanted to shout it out to the whole congregation and to the assembly of Israel, that they too could trust God. His perspective went from inward despair to outward praise and hope for himself and for others. Because God is faithful. David knew the fact and that fact changed his whole perspective. He let the fact lead the train. David decided, repeat... decided...it's always a choice...to leave the despair and feelings of abandonment in the caboose and to let the facts, the truth, lead him.

We finished last night's study looking at Psalm 77. The psalmist, Asaph, cried out to God in the night from a troubled spirit, searching his soul for an answer to his distress. He felt abandoned by God and he feared that the Lord had abandoned Israel forever. Read this psalm and be tender to the words of Asaph, as if they were your own.

God's path and God's way may be through the sea and through the mighty waters for you today. But God is there. Even though His footprints are not seen. That's truth, my sister! You are not abandoned. You are not forsaken. He has not left you, or dropped you. I don't know what else to tell you...that's the truth. He will never, under any circumstance ever, leave you. You may not see His footprints, but He's right there. Let these facts, these truths, lead your train this week. Do not believe the lies of the enemy. I cast down any feelings of abandonment among you, right now, in the name of Jesus.

If you are reading this and haven't joined us for Bible study, you are so welcome!! Remember girls that next Thursday is "Worship for Women, by Women". We'll begin at 7pm in the Sanctuary and have a glorious time of worshiping Christ with other sisters in the Lord. Bring a friend or two. Bring your moms, your aunts, your daughters. I am believing for a fresh anointing of the Spirit of God to be in that place as we enthrone Him on our praises! See you next week. I truly do love you!