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Hi, my name is Father. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascenter presents. There is this incredible song called How Deep the Father's Love. It is one of those songs that I could probably listen to or sing poorly, but listen to and sing along with any time of the year. But there's a line in that song that is problematic. The line is, the Father turns his face away as Jesus is on the cross and he's. He's offering himself up in obedience, humility and love to the Father. He's surrendering everything to the Father. That at that dark moment, the Father turned his face away. I think that's probably because there's the line that Jesus prays from the cross. One of the last seven words from Jesus from the cross, right? The last seven phrases from the cross are the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Or my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Now I know that those words resonate with so many people because we have this common experience, right? The common experience of feeling abandoned by God. I just want to talk about that a little bit because what is it? What's happening when we feel abandoned by God? Now? There's probably a lot of things. There is things like desolation in prayer, there's things like difficulty in prayer, there's dryness in prayer. There are times where it's just like, no, I just really am experiencing a real depression or real loneliness in life. There can be times where every single one of us experiences that feeling. But the question we have to ask is, in those moments, just like Jesus on the cross, is it true? Is it true that in those moments God has abandoned us? Or is there something deeper at work? I was doing some out reading and also some listening to some things about when Christianity was expanding, particularly throughout Europe. As Christianity met some of like, you know, the Visigoths and the Vikings and Germanic people, they encountered again, those, those local, we call them pagan religions. And people would kind of hop, hop from pagan religion to pagan religion. And the idea is, if this people who worship this God keep winning, well, that's because that God is stronger. Or if this mighty warrior worships this God and he keeps winning, he's a mighty warrior, then that God is stronger. So whatever the God of the conquering army is, that's going to be the strongest God. And so, you know, there's times where in history where you have Christians coming along and they're saying, no, no, actually the Lord God, God himself, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, is the true and living God. And the test would be, okay, well, can you fight? Can you actually defeat our people? Can you conquer us? And oftentimes Christian missionaries could not do it. And sometimes they did. I mean, there's fascinating stories about missionaries who, you know, took on essentially those pagan gods and defeated them. That mentality makes sense, right? If you belong to this God, that God's going to fight for you. And if the God is strong enough, the God's going to win for you. But think about this as often as we think, okay, God, if I belong to you, I will always win. But we're limiting God, and we're also misunderstanding God. We're limiting God to the sense of like, okay, God, I belong to you as long as you give me what I want. Well, it's not very relational, right? That's very transactional, as well as the fact that it's misunderstanding God. Why? Because those pagan religions were all about power. If the God can't deliver or the Goddess can't deliver, then they don't get anything from me. But if there is such a thing as one God and that one God is the God, then it is not about what I can get from that God. It is about everything becomes about God. How do you want me to give? How do you want me to live? It flips everything on its head. Because if Jesus Christ truly is God, then he does not have to come through for me. I'm being called to come through for Him. Now, great news is that Jesus is faithful and true. In fact, his name in revelation is he is faithful and true. So he is faithful to us. We have to understand, though, how he's revealed himself is Jesus has not revealed himself as the God who gives us every one of our whims and the God who answers yes to every one of our prayers. He is the God who is good. He is just. He is love. He is mercy. And he hears every one of our prayers and he gives us what we need. Not only that, he hears every one of our prayers. And even when we feel unheard, even when we feel desolate, even when we feel abandoned, he is still there. Remember this. Sometimes we expect something of Jesus that he never promised. If I. If I think, well, Jesus, I'm going to do all the right things, I'm going to follow all the rules and you're going to give me health or Jesus, I thought I did. And this sometimes happens to us in our deep, dark moments of prayer. Say, God, I followed all the rules and the people I love either still Walked away or they were taken away. God, I did all the right things. We still got sick. God, I did all the right things and I'm still broke. God, I did all the right things and my heart is still broke. Sometimes we can misunderstand Jesus because remember what he said. He said, in this world, you will have trouble. I mean, just. He promised that it was not a. Was not a promise of you'll get everything you want. Come, come after me and. And every prayer you utter will be answered completely as you want it to be. He said, no, actually, come after me and die. Essentially, come after me and die to yourself. I'll give you new life. You'll have life and the Holy Spirit in this life, and you will have eternal life in the next life. You'll have joy in this life, and you'll have eternal joy in the next life. But that's not the same thing as you will have health and prosperity in all that you do. It's not the same thing as you do all the right things and everything's going to work out for you. No, in fact, it is. In this world, you will have trouble. But then Jesus goes on to say, but take heart, I have overcome the world that even in the midst of pain, Jesus is there. Even in the midst of trouble, Jesus is there. Even in the midst of suffering, Jesus is there. And even in the midst of when it feels like you are abandoned, Jesus is there. How do we know this? Look at the cross. Look at the cross. And from the cross, Jesus utters one of those seven words, right? One of those seven phrases. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? You might know this already. When Jesus is saying those words, he is quoting from Psalm number 22. And Psalm 22 starts out with the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you abandoned me? Because that's maybe exactly how Jesus felt. But Jesus knew the Father had not abandoned him. Jesus knew that at his worst moment on this earth, bearing the very weight of the sin of the world, the Father had not abandoned him. Because Psalm 22 goes on from my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you abandoned me? And goes on to talk about God's faithfulness. That you have not forsaken me. That you continue to hold me in your gaze and hold me in your arms. That, God, you are triumphant. Even in the midst of my brokenness, you're in the even in the midst of my defeat, God, you continue to win, and you continue to love, and you're continuing to be faithful. And this is the prayer of Jesus, that even in the midst of what feels like abandonment, what maybe felt like being forsaken, Jesus can say, yep, that's how I feel. And yet I know that God is still with me. That's what we all have to do. You will feel forsaken at times. You will feel abandoned at times. All of us will feel that desolation at times. And in those moments, we have to realize, in those moments, God has not turned his face away. In that moment, God has not abandoned us. He is closer to you in your pain than in your pleasure. In so many ways, right? God is closer to you when you're on the cross than when you're wearing a crown. So often God is closer to us in the valley than we are on the mountaintop. He's nearer to us in defeat than he is when we're in victory. Now, obviously, God is with us at all times, but I think we need to refrain. I like to rethink the lyric of that song. How deep the Father's love for us. And instead of saying, in that moment, the Father turns his face away. I've asked sometimes our musicians to say, let's rewrite this and let's sing. The Father holds him in his gaze because that's the truth. I know that there are times when you feel forsaken and you feel abandoned. That's how it feels. But listen to the voice of God says, I will not forsake or abandon you, for you are mine. See, I have written your name in the palm of my hand. And even should a mother forget her child, I will never forget you or forsake you in this world. You will have trouble. But take heart, Jesus is with you and he has overcome the world. Anyways, from all of us here at Essential Presents, my name is Father Mike. God bless.