In The Will of God
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mark 15:34
The Apostle Mark pens the words of Jesus as He died on the cross strikes a chord in every soul alive. I’ve never met anyone who called themselves a Christian who hasn’t sensed that in the midst of their darkest hour they were deserted by God. Many believers wrestle through events in their life where the odds become overwhelming, the world was collapsing, and yet the one who said He would never leave you seemed to have packed His bags and moved away. After all the Bible gives us clear direction, “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5b
So the question becomes how God can say He will never leave us and yet He seems nowhere to be found. Can this be so? If it were possible it would only be possible if we left Him first. Depending on your personal beliefs it is possible to walk away from your relationship with Jesus. There is a point of no return that only God knows. The cares of this world can compete with our relationship with God. An insinuating battle takes place in which the Holy Ghost does all He can do to hang on to the relationship but tragedy there comes a time when the fear of the Lord is gone. The joy and the peace that one rests in are suddenly gone and the only thing left is memories.
May I offer you another point of view when you and I are faced with what looks like God deserting us? Perhaps you and I are in the perfect will of God although everything seems to be falling apart. David cried out these same words in Psalm 22. He said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” Psalms 22:1-2
From the appearance of this psalm, it looks like God deserted David when he was in need just like Jesus on the cross. There was a cry from a deep-felt emotion that God has done the impossible and is left to himself. No, God grows our faith during these deep and personal times. We know in the end as we reflect back that Jesus was there all of the time. Although it looked like the Father deserted Jesus yet youngest of Christian knows with all assurance that Jesus had to die for the sins of mankind. The Bible says “It pleased the Father to bruise Him” Isaiah 53:10 When Jesus cried out on the cross of Calvary there was no way the Father deserted Him at the height of His agony. We have to conclude Jesus was in the perfect will of God when He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” From the foundation of the world Jesus knew at what precise time He was going to die on the cross. God’s timing on the cross like all God’s timing is perfect. Jesus did not die in vain or at the hardest time in His life knowing his father would leave Him. Again the Bible says He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Sometimes we ignore God’s warnings to us. We close our ears to what He is saying and then we wonder why tragedy strikes us. Sometimes the most painful lessons in our Christian walk happen when we ignore God. In God’s will, He will allow us to fall on our faces to reveal to us that we should have listened to Him and heed His warnings. God loves us so but as children, we are prone to wander. God as a loving father tries to set boundaries to protect us. However, we can override His will with our very own but we can’t blame God when we fall. It wasn’t His fault. It was us for not listing. Yet in all of those events, God is close at hand. We are in the will of God who teaches us not to trust in our ways but in everything lean on Him. As Pastor Bill Johnson says, “there are always 2 trees in the garden.” Why? It’s because God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. How can God reward us if we do not have a choice? Do we follow our will or the will of God? Sometimes God will reveal to us lustful flesh within our heart that needs to go in order to raise us to a new level of walk with Him. Why? Because one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to remove a piece of flesh to make room for more of the Spirit. The next time we sense God has left us, remember the cross. He is right there and we are in the center of His will.