My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Matthew 27: 46 (NIV)
Scripture: Matthew 27: 32-56
We all have had times we feel that God is not answering our prayers. The darkness that fell when Jesus was on the cross showed that God had to step back. This devotion discusses why it feels like God does not answer our prayers.
We’ve always heard about how great a relationship God and Jesus had. Two times during Jesus’ ministry, God spoke, saying He was pleased with His Son. The first time was at Jesus’ baptism (Mt. 3: 16-17). Also, God’s voice was heard at the Transfiguration (Mt. 17: 5). God wanted everyone to know that He was pleased with His Son.
Jesus spent all-nighters praying to God (Lk. 6: 12). He’d get up early to have His quiet time with His Father (Mk. 1:35). He made sure He spent time with His Dad.
God, Where Are You?
Then, bam! Jesus’ prayers hit the ceiling. God wasn’t listening to Him. It looked like God had left Him — and just at the time Jesus needed Him most.
How do we know God left Jesus? “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land” (Mt. 27: 45 NKJV).
Here Jesus was hanging on the cross, doing and having done everything God had asked Him. He was completing His mission and completing it well.
And where was God? Nowhere around.
God had turned His back. Sin cannot exist in His Presence. Jesus had to take all of our sins — past, present, and future — onto Himself. So, God had to step back for a second so Jesus could do His job.
Think about how Jesus felt. His mind must have rationalized it all. This was part of the plan. Yes, He knew God had to step back once He had assumed all of our sins.
But sometimes when the hurt gets too much, we don’t think straight. All we focus on is the hurt.
Think what His heart was saying. “You know I didn’t deserve all of this. I’m clean. I volunteered for this. I did everything You ever asked and didn’t once grumble. I was Your Obedient Servant in everything. Why are You cutting out when things are going as planned?”
Maybe His human side was saying that. Well, probably not. He was quoting scripture again (Ps. 22: 1) — something He was really good at. Maybe He was just acknowledging the fact that God had to turn away from Him. Still, that was a novel experience.
How many times do we say Jesus knows how we feel because He has felt it also? How many times had Jesus’ prayers hit the ceiling before? None. He didn’t have much more time to experience this. It had to have been then or never. God had to not answer Him.
So, Jesus found out what it was like to be searching for God and not finding Him. And it is usually our sin that is getting in the way. He could now sympathize with us.
What Does This Mean?
All that is recorded in the gospels is that Jesus just said verse 1 of Psalm 22, but I have read somewhere that He said the whole thing. If we limit our knowledge to just verse 1, we miss some important points.
Psalm 22: 3 says, “But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel” (NKJV). After His prayers ran into the roadblock, did He scream, “Okay. The deal is off. Come on, angels. Get me off this cross!”
No, He stayed there. He knew God’s plan was the best plan. He trusted His loving Heavenly Father to take Him through the valley, albeit silent, invisible from Him. He knew God would meet Him on the other side.
The next part strikes a chord. “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!’” (Ps. 22: 6-8 NKJV).
We humans are so contradictory. We tear ourselves down, believing the worst in us, but then we are so prideful. We generally don’t call ourselves worms anymore, but I am sure we each have our own descriptive negative way to refer to ourselves. When things are at the worst, we are really creative in how we tear ourselves down.
Did you see that? The Psalmist foretold the ridicule Jesus was going to experience while hanging on the cross.
To read Did Jesus Experience Peer Pressure?, click the button below.
How comforting is Psalm 22: 10-11! “I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb
You have been My God. Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help” (NKJV). God is not far from us in times of trouble — in fact, ever. Even from before birth, He is there.
Okay, I had to do verse 15 in another translation because I had no clue what a potsherd is. “My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put me into the dust of death” (Ps. 22: 15 HCSB). Isn’t that a great description of how we feel when we are going through our trials? We feel as breakable as potsherd/baked clay.
Verse 16 is appropriate, also. “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet” (Ps. 22: 16 NKJV). Don’t we sometimes feel everything closing in on us in the trials we experience?
Believers are very thankful that they can call out to our Loving Father in times of trials. “But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!” (Ps. 22: 19 NKJV). And we, like Jesus, can say, “… You have answered Me” (Ps. 22: 21). Because He does.
Even though we think differently in the most difficult situations, “… He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard” (Ps. 22: 24 NKJV). God will never leave us. He hears us when we call.
How Can We Apply This?
We talked in a previous devotion about how God answers our prayers — yes, no, wait, or He has something better.
To read Did Jesus Struggle with His Mission?, click the button below.
There could be a number of different reasons why God doesn’t immediately tell us “yes.” It could be we are asking for something outside His Will. He might have to work some thing out first — either in us or someone else. We may think something is perfect for us — like a job — but He has a different one in mind — one that is so much better.
Lately, I’ve been considering why God is silent when we call out to him. Every once in a while, I see on Facebook the meme where the teacher is silent during the test.
Isn’t that the truth? The teacher will lecture to give us what we need to know about something. S/He will provide examples to show us what is right. We get to do exercises where we apply what we are learning. There are quizzes so we can figure our what we know and don’t know.
Then comes test day. This is where the rubber hits the road. How are we going to do when it really counts?
God through His Word tells us what we need to know. Jesus has given us examples to show us how to apply that. We have to make daily choices to show we are letting God have control in our lives.
Then the big one hits. It is up to us to keep our trust in God. It is up to us to resist the temptation to sin.
God isn’t going to step in and force us to react His way. He is going to allow our free will to decide. We have to choose to follow Him and live for Him.
Did you notice what isn’t in Psalm 22? Nowhere in those verses does Jesus show any resistance to the trial He is going through. Not us. We generally kick and scream saying we want out of this situation.
Even though it isn’t recorded, I bet it is a safe bet that Jesus kept praying while He was on the cross.
Remember, we just read Matthew 27: 45? Have you read the next verse? “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Mt. 27: 46 NKJV). The darkness lasted until the ninth hour — which is when Jesus asked God why He had forsaken Him.
Jesus said, “God, where are You?” God said, “Right here.”
God is right here for us, too — even when we think He isn’t.
Loving Heavenly Father. Why can’t we be more like Jesus? Why can’t we simply trust — even in the silent times? Why can’t we realize You have a plan, and that plan is best — even if it hurts? But that would mean taking our eyes off ourselves and concentrating on You, Lord. That is the way You want it. That is the way Jesus did it. Help us to be more like Christ. Amen.
What do you think? When you feel your prayers hitting the ceiling, what strategies do you use to remain faithful to God? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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