Pastor Scott Applegate
“From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).” Matthew 27:45-46 NIV
When I Feel Forsaken I Need To…
- Run to the One Who truly understands and empathizes with me
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15 CSB
- Jesus went through His suffering alone, He truly knows what it feels like to be forsaken. We will never be forsaken or truly alone.
“Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Psalm 27:10 NIV
2. Remember what Jesus went through for me, so that I would never be forsaken
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
- On the cross Jesus became our substitute
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…” 1 Peter 3:18 NIV
- The substitution of Jesus for us shows that:
- God is both equally holy and just, and love and mercy
- God takes sin serious
- Grace is costly
“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” 1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT
“Grace is free only because the giver Himself has borne the cost.” Philipp Yancey
3. Rely on how much God loves me
“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ...Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death…No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:32, 35, 37-39 NLT
- This tells me that though I am unworthy, I am not worthless
4. Respond with faith, gratefulness, and worship
“Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins—making us friends of God.” Romans 5:11 LB
“…I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:23-26 NIV