Abandoned But Never Alone

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Abandoned Alone

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ABANDONED

Have you ever FELT abandoned? Have you ever BEEN abandoned? God has a remedy. I would like us to think about some examples.

EXAMPLES

  1. Personal  To begin with, I felt abandoned when I was 7 years old. My mom got sick and spent time in the hospital. Dad had difficulty caring for me in her absence. My hair fell out because I was so scared. Mom recovered and my hair grew back. Except in one spot where my brown hair turned gray, a reminder of the earlier event in my life.
  2. Scripture: Joseph Let’s look at some examples from Scripture. Joseph might have felt abandoned when his older brothers sold him as a teenager to some traveling merchantmen. They took him away from his home in Canaan and sold him when they arrived at their destination, Egypt. Joseph didn’t see his family again until perhaps 15-20 years later.

In the meantime, Joseph grew up, matured and took on leadership roles. With the gifts God gave him, Joseph learned management skills, first as a slave, then as a prisoner. At age 30 he became the second in command in Egypt. Joseph was ready when a massive, severe drought occurred, affecting several countries. Joseph’s older brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food because the drought affected them in Canaan. Joseph’s whole family ended up relocating from Canaan to Egypt

3. Scripture: Jesus  In our second example from Scripture, at one point in Jesus’ life on earth God abandoned Him. Toward the end of His excruciating six hour ordeal of dying on the cross, “Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

To explain the background of this heart rending cry of Jesus, we have to understand a little about who God is. God is holy and does not accept sin in His presence. While Jesus lived on earth, He could have sinned but He never did. Falsely accused, He was condemned to die. Innocent in God’s eyes, Jesus willingly took the guilt of our sin on Himself. God used Jesus’ death as a substitute for us. By this we see in the strangest of all mysteries, God had compassion on us humans, sending Jesus to earth to help us. Now we can come to God, not on our own merit, but on the merit of Jesus.

PERSPECTIVE

  1. Joseph   With these examples in mind, Joseph learned to keep God in focus after he came to live in Egypt. Rather than dwell on the wrongs in his past, he chose to live in the present. Toward the end of his 110 year life, he discarded the guilt his older brothers felt. Joseph said to them, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
  2.  Jesus  The author of Hebrews said about Jesus our hero: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
  3. Every fellow believer  In whatever circumstances you find yourself today, dear one, look up and embrace Jesus as your hero. How to do this? “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Shirley Logsdon

Further reading:

https://www.treadingwatertiljesuscomes.com/2018/07/31/no-matter-what-you-go-through/

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About Shirley Logsdon

I am the only child of Christian parents who wanted me to know God personally as they did. One night during church we watched a movie depicting a family in their home accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. I was nine and realized then my desire to make Jesus my personal Savior. With the full support of my parents, I met with the pastor and prayed to receive Christ. A few years later, several of us around the same age began classes for our confirmation to become church members. The privilege of taking communion was a special time for me. . During my teenage years I was outwardly complacent, but was inwardly rebellious. I developed the nasty habit of disrupting harmony in the household by nitpicking at anything and everything. A preacher came to hold revival services at my dad’s church and nailed me silently with looks. This helped me tremendously. I turned a corner and began to respect and obey my parents in attitude and actions. I survived these years through prayer (mine, my parents and friends). The love and tenacity of my parents and God’s grace got me through these years of upheaval. I readily identify with David the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 25:7, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.” Because my parents provided a stable home life for me, when I went to college my Christian values remained intact. After completing my education in 1979, I started working. For a while, I worked at temp agencies, then I did odd jobs. I settled down in a secretarial position in 1986 working for a firm specializing in retirement plan administration. In 2007, I started working for a law firm, eventually becoming a knowledge management assistant in their law library, helping to alert attorneys to new business opportunities. I am a productive citizen of my country in large part because my parents prayed for me and made clear by word and example what they expected of me. I am extremely grateful to God for them. John 15:5 is my life verse: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” I am confronted with this realization every day I live, and it helps keep me on the straight and narrow path. I met my future husband at church. After a few years of our two families getting acquainted, he and I started courting. We married at the church where we met, in the presence of many relatives and friends. We have been married for 29 years. My hobbies are reading, cooking, and canning or freezing what my beloved husband grows in the garden. Also, I thoroughly enjoy writing. While my writing has included poems, most of my writing has been letters to family and friends. I like to share my faith when I write and am fond of adding a Bible verse or two to help focus on the source of our life. Since I am now retired after working 38 years, I can concentrate on keeping up with birthdays. Something else I enjoy is studying the Bible, often with others. Blogging is a new form of writing for me. I am getting my feet wet and I’m beginning to enjoy the experience.

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