Do You Feel Abandoned by God?

Ever felt like God put your prayer request on “READ” receipt?

You feel let down. Absent from His presence. It’s hard to open your Bible and the verses aren’t sinking into your spirit. You’re finding it difficult to encourage others when you yourself don’t feel encouraged, but abandoned.

You’re finding it hard to be grateful and worship a God that you feel has turned His favor away from you and abandoned you when you needed Him the most.

I learned in this sermon that when you’re processing this frustration and disappointment, you have to ask yourself:

Will your faith propel you or will your fear paralyze you? 

This is a powerful reminder that:

• God will never forsake or abandon you.
• The love of God is proven by how you deal with His perceived absence in your life.
• We praise Him for Who is He, not just What He does.
• In John 11, Mary and Martha asked Jesus to heal Lazarus and when He didn’t–they still made food for him and worshiped despite the fact that they didn’t know in chapter 12 that he would later go on to heal him.

Often, things only make sense in hindsight. When we are treading in the space between where we are and what God has promised us, sometimes the best we can do is divert from our frustration and remember the blessings and just WHO God is.

Here are 6 quick ways to endure when you feel let down by God…

#1: Remember His Promise to you:

• He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).
• He uses what the enemy meant for evil and uses it for good (Genesis 50:20).
• No weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17).
• Nothing can snatch you out of His hand (John 10:28).
• Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31).
• “Your testimonies are my meditation. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32).

#2: Envision your own “Chapter 12”:

Sometimes you have to envision the restoration. Take 10 minutes to meditate and see yourself with a testimony, freed, delivered, all things working out for your good.

Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4

#3: Remind yourself that your identity is not dependent on circumstance:

The minute you accepted Christ, you made a home for Him in your heart and just because you don’t feel Him strongly right now doesn’t mean your identity in Christ is gone.

YOU ARE WHO HE SAYS YOU ARE! A new creation. You can no longer be swayed by a little discomfort, a few bad feelings, a few negative thoughts, a few shots from the enemy, a few old strongholds/dead mindsets creeping in… NO. None of that has power over you anymore.

Why? 

Because this new version of yourself knows that despite circumstance:

• There is a crown of His glory on your head.
• You are called here for a purpose.
• What you’re going through right now is so tiny compared to what God has imagined for you.
• You will feel God’s presence again.
• You know that even now He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
• You know that in order to accomplish big things God’s put in your heart, you can’t get set back by these little things that come along to shake you.
• No weapon formed against you shall prosper
• Nothing can prevail against God’s word for your life.
• Jesus Christ died to set you free from bondage and captivity.

 For all that alone, we will praise Him! We are not forgotten or abandoned… we are loved!

#4: Pray:

Lord God, I come to you with all that I am. Please remind me that you are always with me and I am not abandoned. I am forever a new creation in you and you hold me in your hand. Shelter me under your wings, you are my rock and my provider, no weapon formed against me shall prosper because the victory is ALREADY mine in YOUR time, and you will never ever let me be put to shame.

Amen.

#5: Worship 

Do it Again – Hillsong

#6: Meditate

Psalm 77 (paraphrased):

I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me…
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?”
Then I thought, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works,
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”