My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? - Mt 27:46 -

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/220914860996

 

 

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, >>Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?<< that is, >>My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?<< (Mt 27:46)"

 

 

The above words show to what extent tests and trials can come upon a man of God. Believers have to know there could be a severe ordeal in their life and have to prepare themselves for such a severe tribulation: >The time of trial lasts ever and ever. You pray and pray for help from God long, but God keeps silent to your prayer. And the pain of the wound of the heart pierces your soul as a nail into your body. At last the whip of the crucible tears off the parts of your heart so that the heart bleeds too much.<

 

 

Can it be a true trial if the trial is within your common sense of faith and the measure of your faith? Paul said he evangelized the world in a pain of childbirth. The pain of childbirth is more than common sense, more than you can bear in sobriety, that is, a pain of the splitting of the body. There can be an extreme pain, by which even Jesus cries on the cross, "Why hast thou forsaken me?", a pain that makes you shudder and makes you almost lose your mind.

 

 

When God allows trials like labor pains to the saints, especially to pastors, he is asking them, "Do you really love me? Do you really love my sheep more than your body and soul?" God acknowledges the faith of those who have endured the tribulation of the pain of labor as a true faith and a valid faith. He acknowledges their love as true love!

 

 

And suppose a man of God or a layman prays earnestly to God over a problem. But God might not solve his problem for some reasons. So the man might feel abandoned by God. But he can be a winner of all the trials if he believes God is faithful and does not give up his faith in God even then. You have a true faith if you do not abandon your faith in God even when you look like a man forsaken by God. Abraham did have the faith. Abraham was called by God and came into the land of Canaan, but he met the tribulation of famine there. Abraham must have prayed to God about this problem, but he got no answer. So he had to go to Egypt to save life. In other words, he was called by God and abandoned by God. Some may say that Abraham went to Egypt because of his little faith, but as it was he could not but go there. Abraham trusted in God even after the tribulation. God promised Abraham to give him a son, but the answer was ever delayed, to Abraham's despair. So Abraham had to take Hagar, his wife's maid, and got a son. You might say Abraham took Hagar to wife thanks to his little faith, but humanly speaking, Abraham was abandoned after receiving the promise from God, for this situation was beyond Abraham's judgment and patience. Actually his wife, Sarah, had no son until her menstruation ceased. Any one can think that such a situation meant that Abraham and his wife were deserted by God.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, even if Abraham or Christians were deserted by God in some circumstances, it does not mean that God's first promise is canceled or that he is unfaithful. 'Being deserted' is but a means of revealing the real faith of believers. Suppose that a unit of an army was put into the war at the command of the nation. The unit couldn't receive enough supplies at the right time, due to some circumstances of the nation, so it lost a lot of lives, yet barely won the battle. This unit loved its nation more than other units that received abundant supplies and achieved brilliant results, and is greater than they, and will receive greater prize from the nation than they later. The army of the kingdom of God may be in the same situation. God allows some soldiers of the army of God the situation of 'deserted by God' to make their faith stand out more, to praise their faith more, and for God's own glory. The reason why God allows such a situation despite the risk of 'turning one's back on God' of those who are deserted for a while is that God trusts in them and their fidelity. In fact, abandonment is the highest honor for us, when we think of the honor and status we will receive if we accept the abandonment and still trust in God. God allows such a trial of abandonment only to Christians having the faith of children of God. And only those who have been deserted like that, yet still believe that God is good are acknowledged as those who have the faith of true children of God. Children deeply understand and respect the father. The situation of abandonment also can be called a pain of labor.

 

 

 

Jesus obeyed God and endured the pain of labor beyond common sense to the end, proving that he truly loved the Father and truly loved all mankind. Paul also proved his love for God and his sheep wonderfully by preaching the gospel in the pain of labor to the end to establish the church.

 

 

 

"Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. (1 Cor 4:2)" This means that God entrusts a certain person with a task and demands loyalty from him. Trustworthy refers to an attitude of doing one's best, which becomes evident in difficult conditions and environments. This suggests that God often gives a difficult and hard path rather than an easy way of all success to his workers. This stems from his desire to praise us more later.

 

 

I comfort and bless you in the name of Jesus, who has overcome the world, that you may have the faith and patience to endure even a pain of childbirth.