Did God Forget About Me?

We all have those times where we feel forgotten by God. We ask Him questions that begin with “Why?”

We struggle to pray and read His Word. We meditate on all the things that have gone wrong and are going wrong in our lives. We can’t think of anything good when we think about our circumstances. We imagine all the amazing ways that God could possibly answer our prayers and yet none of them appear to come to fruition. Our nights are wrought with fearful thoughts that fill our hearts with panic and our mornings are filled with dread. Today’s circumstances appear to increase our normal levels of anxiety as we fight the invisible enemy that could possibly be in the air around us. Everyone appears to be a threat as we trust in PPE’s to protect us. We can’t imagine anything good coming our way as the threat goes on and on with no clear end in sight. Has God left us to fend for ourselves?

Kay Arthur, in her study Lord Heal My Hurts, reminds us that there is “the Balm of Gilead” which is a symbol of God’s healing. Kay Arthur states, “Sometimes the pain can become so great that you wonder how you can survive if something doesn’t change immediately” (pg 37). The people of Jeremiah’s day turned away from God and chose to worship other gods much like we do today. The people of Israel didn’t even pretend to be faithful to God in their worship, whereas the people of Judah would appear that they were giving God their hearts while also paying tribute to the local gods the other nations were serving. The people were suffering and God in His grace told them if they returned to Him they would find refuge.

When we experience angst, we can turn for wisdom to the pages of Scripture. When the Israelites turned to God in their times of trouble, God filled them with renewed faith. They remembered being without hope when they were trapped by the sea, and then God parted the waters and led them away from their enemies who were in hot pursuit. When they were homeless in the desert for forty years they never went hungry and their shoes didn’t wear out. We, too, can remind ourselves of the many times God has provided for us in our areas of need. He has met our needs through people in our community whom He often uses as His hands and feet. As we walk through life, our days appearing to be filled with dread, we can remind ourselves of His constant presence in our lives… and we will realize that God will not drop us on our heads.