Forsaken?

My God, my God why have you forsaken me?  -David (Psalm 22:1) ESV

Have you ever felt complete abandonment, vulnerability, betrayal, anguish, excruciating pain, or hopelessness? If you have gone through one of those times you may understand David’s desperate plea. Where is my God? Why is He not paying attention to my needs?  Why does He not help me?

I can’t say I have ever had to walk through a valley of despair where I felt the void of the absence of God and His rejection. I can recall the accounts of US P.O.W. soldiers in Vietnam who were held by the Viet Cong for years, some imprisoned in bamboo cages 6 ft. long, by 3 ft. wide, and 2 ft. high, placed on a starvation diet of rice and salt, and shackled in irons, often beaten, neglected and many executed. I think of the descriptions of those who suffered the inhumane treatment in the German Concentration Camps of WWII. Alexander Werth, a British correspondent records what he saw at Maidenek, near the Polish border where over 1.5 million people were executed.

Anyway, after the washing was over, they were asked to go into the next room; at this point even the most unsuspecting must have begun to wonder. For the "next room" was a series of large square concrete structures, each about one-quarter of the size the bath-house, and, unlike it, had no windows. The naked people (men one time, women another time, children the next) were driven or forced from the bath-house into these dark concrete boxes - about five yards square - and then, with 200 or 250 people packed into each box - and it was completely dark there, except for a small light in the ceiling and the spyhole in the door - the process of gassing began. First some hot air was pumped in from the ceiling and then the pretty pale-blue crystals of Cyclon were showered down on the people, and in the hot wet air they rapidly evaporated. In anything from two to ten minutes everybody was dead. . .

Throughout history we have a long list of human atrocities of torture, genocide, neglect, war, slavery, and those who suffered must have cried out “My God, my God why have you forsaken us?” Has God abandoned us?

One poignant moment in history, one man is tried and sentenced to death by crucifixion at the hands of the Romans, 2000 years ago. Roman crucifixion was a visceral statement of power over their subjects. On the cross the man gasps for each breath in excruciating pain as a sign saying “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” hangs above his head. Flogged, hands and feet nailed to the wooden beams, mocked, rejected, convicted as a criminal, and taking on the sins of humanity…even all of humanities atrocities. Jesus cries out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”. Has God abandoned his own Son?

David answers: 

²³    You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴    For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.                                         (Psalm 22:23-24) ESV

Human suffering tests our faith like no other. To hold onto the belief that God is present, compassionate, and empathetic to our suffering is our present and future hope. Jesus, the Son of God, is the first fruit of our future hope. It was fulfilled in his victory over sin and death on Resurrection Day. When Jesus walked out of the dark, lifeless tomb…he emphatically answers: Yes, God is… God is present, God listens, God is active, God is powerful, God cares

and YOU are not forsaken. Jesus IS the answer.

Cannon Ball!

“Cannon Ball!!!”, I yelled in mid-air hugging my knees with eyes fixed on the bobbing heads beneath me. Splash!

“Good one Tim!”, said one of the boys treading water as I came up to the surface. Six scrawny boys gleefully swam to the side of the pool to re-take our positions in line at the diving board.

Going back a few years to 1978 in Ellendale, ND, I was 11 years-old, with a summer pass to our small local outdoor public pool.  With 6-8 friends we spent nearly everyday in the pool except for days with thunderstorms and passing tornados. I was so tan that when I changed it looked like I had spray-on “Fruit of the Looms”. At a hulking 83lbs, I was a lean, mean, belly-flopping machine. One of our favorite games in the pool was “Bomber”. We would take turns off the diving board and tread water as our friends would try to splash us with water explosive dives like the Cannon Ball, Can Opener, Watermelon, Twister, Dead Man, and Torpedo. Surprisingly when I tried to play this game with my kids, Lifeguards would blow their whistle from the top of their guard tower, give me a disapproving look and point to get out of the pool. As I swm to the ladder, I would dejectedly mumble something under the water like “splll…teenage…bllerpp… whistle blowing...ggrlggle…Nazi.”

This past week I drove by an outdoor pool (closed for the winter and longing for hot sunny days) that reminded me of that awesome summer of 1978. What made that carefree summer so special was the friendships we developed as we morphed into prunes bobbing in the water. I think of the special memories and friendships I’ve treasured over the years: Sitting next to a fellow trumpeter snickering at the squeaking clarinet in H.S. band, getting grass stains and shin burns with my softball teammates, sharing a cup of coffee or Buffalo Hot Wings with friends, hiking, horseshoes, playing disc golf or going on a motorcycle ride. The Apostle Paul affirms the joy and thankfulness of brothers in Christ as he witnesses their spiritual maturity and friendships grow.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. – 2 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV) 

As wonderful as my treasured memories are, I am looking forward to discovering more with you…bring it on and give it your best Cannon Ball.