Never Forsaken

"... but He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5

It's so good to be back. I apologize for the long absence, but duties with family called, and I had to make them a priority. It's actually those obligations, coupled with the approaching Holy Week, that are the subject of today's post.

I spent most of the month of February in Katy, Texas, with my youngest daughter. She was due to have her first baby toward the latter part of the month, but there began to be some complications with the pregnancy that necessitated a semi-emergency C-section two weeks early. Tom and I got word the day before she was to go into surgery, and we headed out that very evening to be with her and her husband for the next morning's delivery.

We followed them to the hospital in the wee hours, darkness adding somewhat to the more somber mood we all felt, but never voiced. As we settled ourselves into the waiting room chairs, Tom snapped a picture that spoke volumes. I haven't shared it here, as it is a very private photo, but I was sitting next to Sarah, arm around her, holding her close. She was looking toward me, the concern of the moment evident in her eyes. Me? My gaze was upward, toward the only One I knew who could be with her in the next hour when we could not.

Those moments. Those days.

We've all been there. We've all had them. And..., the unfortunate truth of this fallen world is that even if you haven't experienced yet something that absolutely drives you to your knees, you probably will. That's why I am so thankful for Jesus. Because of His sacrifice... we are assured beyond the shadow of a doubt that when troubles come, invading our otherwise happy, carefree lives... driving us down into those deep, dark places.... we will not be alone. You and I and all believers will NEVER go through ANY of it by ourselves. There was only One who was forsaken; it was because of Him that we will never have to be.

With the first Adam came the Fall and all manner of hurt, difficulty, anxiety, and sorrow. The Fall ushered in everything Satan could throw at us to try to rip us from God's hand. He can never succeed, not unless we let him. If you've lived many years at all, you've seen how the devil rails, how he loves to hate us, to dismantle out lives... how he sows day and night seeds of doubt, all the while still whispering those same old lies in our ears, "Does God REALLY love you? Does He REALLY care?"

We go through trial after trial, sometimes wondering if things could EVER be any worse.

They could. Oh, my goodness, how they could!

There was One who knew.

I can't begin to imagine... none of us can imagine what that moment on the cross felt like for Jesus. The physical pain was torture. The tongue-wagging, the insults, the derision... was torture. The weight of the world's sins... torture.

But...

None of it could compare to the worst pain He suffered.... His Father's abandonment at the moment Jesus needed Him most. God turned his face away from his Son in order that he could bear to look upon ours once again. God forsook his own child, that you and I might be made heirs of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus suffered, willingly, what you and I will never have to experience.

No matter what comes. No matter what hardship. No matter what affliction, sorrow, stress, or pain... because of Jesus and His sacrifice, we will never have to go through any of it alone. And that, next to the treasures of forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life...

is one of the greatest gifts we could ever be given in this life.