How many if us have experienced betrayal, disappointments or have been forsaken by someone we love? A family member, a friend, or a boyfriend/girlfriend? How many people has let us down? And how do we feel when we are not loved by someone whom we truly love?
If you have experienced this before, I think you would agree with me that the experience was painful, probably the most painful. Its great torture and great suffering when the one you love no longer loves you, or does not love you at all.
Jesus experienced exactly that. He loved every single one of us with all His heart. And yet, how many among us do not love Him? Worst still, some of us hate him. And some ignite His jealousy by loving other people, or other things. He experiences the same pain we experience when we are forsaken by our loved ones.
His greatest suffering was when God Himself forsaken Jesus on the cross. For a while, God turned His face away from Jesus, and left Him to suffer on the cross so that my sins and your sins can be forgiven. At that moment, Jesus said in agony, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?’
O such pain! Can you imagine how painful it was to be left alone by the one you love so so much? I could! Remember that Jesus did all that to pay the price for our sins. He endured the greatest suffering of all so that you and I can once again have a relationship with the holy God.
When I think of this, I can’t bear to let Jesus’s effort go to waste. And whenever my loved ones leave me and I am in great pain, I am comforted to know that Jesus knows exactly how i feel. And I am reassured in His love, because He promised me that HE WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME, NOR FORSAKE ME.
