Yesterday at State Street, we talked about feeling abandoned by God.  Jesus, on the cross, cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  I’ve gotten a few emails and had a some discussions after the services yesterday about abandonment.  It’s a huge issue among many in our community.  It’s an issue that I hold close to my heart because I lived in it for a few years.

Why God?  Why go through this?  Are you even there?  Please God, I can’t deal with this any more…

God is restoring me and I’m learning about trust.  This verse in Deuteronomy comforts me, “And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

The book Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning has been foundational in my spiritual development.  In it he says,

The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.

May we learn to trust the promises of God even more and follow His movement even closer and be His church.  Amen.