About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Matthew 27:46, NIV

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

 These were Jesus’ words as he hung on the Cross. It was our sins that put him there, that held him there. But he chose to take those sins on himself. And, in his choice, there is blessing for those who believe on his name. Because he was forsaken, you can never be.

It’s difficult to reconcile this with what we see and experience in the world around us. Conventional wisdom, and even sometimes conventional Christianity and what the world and sometimes even other Christians will tell you, is that, because you’re a Christian, you shouldn’t feel pain. They say that there’s no room for grief even in the face of what’s going on in the world and what’s happening or has happened in your life.

But this is worldly thinking. It doesn’t square with Jesus, who, in the middle of his own suffering, expressed pain and felt and expressed the reality of that suffering.

There’s a literary phrase, in media res. It means “in the middle of things. Stories that start in media res start in the middle of the action.

Beginning in this place can result in a number of feelings, including curiosity or stress. But this is in literature.

As a survivor of abuse or other forms of trauma, you may be looking at your life from a position of being “in the middle of things”. From this position, healing may be a distant thought or a seeming impossibility. The journey ahead is daunting, but you are not alone. Jesus is in the middle of things, in the middle of your struggle with you. His message to you isn’t that you should hurry up and heal or that you shouldn’t feel at all. It’s not even that you shouldn’t question God.

God is big enough for all of your questions and even for the cry, “Why have you forsaken me?” And, he invites you to cast your cares on him, your specific cares, and not just the church-y cares you may have been taught are ok cares.

It’s ok to wrestle with what’s happened to you and even to wrestle with God as you struggle with its impact. Know that, even as you do, you haven’t been forsaken. You will not be.

Who in your life can you turn to for support on your healing journey? Think of a place where you feel safe, whether with a family member, a member of your community, or someone else. If there’s no one you feel comfortable sharing with right now, how can you incorporate journaling into your healing process?

| Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. |