Recently I was reading the book of Job and abandonment feel into my spirit. In case you haven't read the book of Job, he was a seen by God as being blameless and upright. He also had great fear of the Lord. Job was also a wealthy man who had many possessions. He and his wife had ten children, land and an abundance of livestock. Even though he was righteous, God allowed Satan to test Job.
The testing that he endured was one that would bring many to a breaking point, but not Job. Satan was allowed to basically do all he could to break Job other than killing him, which God would not allow. Now, this doesn't mean that Job understood why he had to go through such turmoil. Job lost all of his livestock, his servants and all of his children were killed. He then received sores all over his body. Each of these tragedies happened in different events not just at one time.
Job's wife asked him to curse God for all the things that had happened to him and in return he calls her foolish and would never do such a thing. His friends came to visit and assumed that these horrible things happened because he had sinned, but the Bible is very clear the Job had not. When reading the scripture, you can hear and feel the anguish and pain this man was going through. From him basically begging to die to feeling so lost at why he must go through these things. For most of the book of Job, he never heard from God until the last few chapters. He felt abandoned, he felt alone and confused but not once did he turn his back on God.
When he finally heard from God, he was reminded of just how powerful God is. Job responded to this saying, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:1-3). Job was then blessed by God twice as much as he was before.
This brings me to my title...have you ever felt abandoned by God? I know I have but I too was like Job. Just because I was not hearing from God when I wanted to or needed to, it did not mean he wasn't there. He heard every prayer, every heartache, and every time I called out His name. He was working out things for my good and His glory even though I could not see it in the mess that I was in. My friend, if you ever truly received the Lord as your savior, He has never once left you. His answers and timing are not always when or what we want to hear but regardless of the outcome we should glorify Him. Even through the darkness light will shine. Hang on brothers and sisters, answers are coming! His timing is perfect!
