We have learned what it means to wait on God, and why God makes us wait. However, what can be the most difficult part of the waiting period is when it feels like God has abandoned us even in our obedience. The Bible – and the Psalms in particular – is filled with questions like “Will you forget me forever” (Psalm 13:1). How can we take comfort when it feels like the Comforter has abandoned us?
Endure and You Will Reap What You Sow
Over the past 12 months, God put me through a difficult waiting period. I prayed countless times for deliverance and often wondered why He placed me in that circumstance at all. I could explain why God makes His people wait, at least in general, but what was hardest was the feeling that He had abandoned me in the process.
During that season I felt my need for God more deeply than usual. I began taking morning walks, praying simply for the grace to get through each day. One morning, it felt as though my prayers were not being heard by God, and I began to feel frustrated. I knew He was listening, but His presence didn’t seem near to me.
As I prayed, I noticed the sky was completely clear – except for one small, dark cloud that was blocking the sun. I knew it would pass within minutes, and the sunlight would break through again.
The cloud was like a picture of my life in that moment. Yes, this period is dark like the cloud, and it may block out the light of the sun, but it is temporary and passing. The sun had never stopped shining; it was only hidden from my perspective. Once the cloud passed by, the sun would shine on me again. Likewise, the cloud – or the trial – would pass on, and I would experience the warmth of the sun again. It reminded me of Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” These verses were written by Paul, who lived a life of unimaginable suffering. Yet he recognized that the “clouds” of life are temporary, and pale in comparison to the glorious eternity that awaits us.
If you are enduring a waiting period, and it feels as though God has abandoned you, take heart. This trial, like the cloud, will pass. Your obedience and faithfulness will be rewarded. Galatians 6:8-9 reminds us that those who sow to the Spirit will reap eternal life, and that, “in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” God always rewards obedience. Always. Even when God feels silent, He has not withdrawn. His Son promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). The sun is still shining, even when a cloud hides it from your view.
Look to Jesus
Although it may feel like we have been forsaken, those who have placed their faith in Jesus will never truly be forsaken. Jesus was forsaken in our place. On the cross He took on our sins, and as He did, He cried, “My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Because God is just, our sins needed to be punished, but Jesus took that punishment upon Himself because He loves us. In every season of life—and especially in the most difficult ones—we must remind ourselves that Jesus loves us, and therefore we are no longer condemned. We can walk in full assurance knowing He paid the price of being forsaken for us.
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned Psalm 13, where David asks, “Will You forget me forever?” David was experiencing the dark cloud behind the sun. Yet, even in the midst of this trial, he writes “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5). Likewise, we look to the love displayed by Jesus on the cross. Even in our darkest moments, when His love feels shrouded by a cloud, we can know that we will one day prevail and rejoice in His steadfast love. Some trials may lift quickly, and others may last a lifetime, but none of them can overturn the promise secured for us in Christ. The cloud will pass; His steadfast love will not.
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