When I was growing up, my family moved around a lot. My dad was in the Air Force, so where he went we went. Because of this, we changed churches a lot, and we pretty much had to choose from what was available. We didn't always end up in a church that believed quite the way my parents did, but usually the differences weren't big enough to pose a problem. There were a couple of things that I was taught that I took to heart that weren't scriptural. I didn't realize that at the time, so they messed with my head.
One of the things that I was taught was that "God can't be in the presence of sin. He is too good and righteous to exist in the presence of something so vile. If God were in the presence of someone with sin in their life, they would be blasted into nothing instantly. God even turned His back on Jesus when he was on the cross because He couldn't look on the sin Jesus was taking on for us." This was supposed to be backed up by the fact that Jesus said: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Now, I was young, but I knew full and well that I had sin in my life, and if God would reject Jesus, who was only doing what God told him to do, then I was in BIG TROUBLE. I spent nearly 10 years in constant fear of God's sudden judgement and wrath. Then one day, I was reading in the Psalms and came across Psalm 22. This is what it says:
Psalm 22
For the director of music.
To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning."
A psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.
That first verse nearly stopped my heart. Jesus wasn't crying out to God for forsaking him, He was quoting scripture!!! Psalm 22 is a prophecy about the messiah! Jesus was encouraging himself in the WORD. In the middle of this terrible experience, he was reminding himself that God knew all of this would happen, that it was part of the plan and that this fit in with what God needed to make things right between men and Him again.
Romans 8:39 (New International Version)
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus was NOT FORSAKEN! AND NEITHER WAS I!!!!
This was the beginning of my journey to find out what God was really like. To find out for myself who God IS. I began this journey with TWO important points:
1 Even Jesus had to encourage himself with scripture in hard times. . . .
2 God LOVES me and He will always LOVE LOVE LOVE me!
And that goes for you TOO!!!!!
Awesome!
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