Eloi, Eloi, Lema Sabachthani?

             My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” (Psalm 22:1-8)

 

               And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Mark 15:35)

 

             He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:43)

 

          The first three thoughts that come to mind as we begin Psalm 22 is 1) Here we go again, David is down, 2) the fact that this passage was quoted, or paraphrased, by both Jesus and the Jewish officials during the crucifixion, and 3) If Jesus could feel as though God had abandoned Him in the midst of the crucifixion, and if David could feel as if God had abandoned him in the midst of his trials and tribulations, then it shouldn’t surprise or even dismay us if we feel the same way in the midst of ours. We can’t possibly understand the depth of anguish Jesus felt, but we’ve felt our own.

There are times when we feel betrayed or let down by God when everything within us screams that God has abandoned us. Some tell us that we must not ask God why, but David did, and Jesus did. There are times when others will tell us – and we may tell ourselves – that it’s all our fault, that we did something wrong, and God is punishing us. If we are at fault, we need to deal with it, but Jesus certainly wasn’t at fault.

When we are in these situations, we need to do several things. We need to discern whether we have done something wrong and if so, make it right and seek forgiveness. But if we don’t see a problem, it’s wise to ask God why. In the absence of any answer, however, we face a bigger challenge. Years ago, I read a book called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. It’s the same idea. Regardless of the pain, fear, abandonment, or whatever, we must learn to keep going. This doesn’t mean to pretend the pain, fear, abandonment, or whatever aren’t there but to choose to trust God anyway and keep going.

There’s no telling who might be watching, and who might need to see your struggle, to see you fall down six times and get up seven, including you. More importantly, feelings often hold lies that can be deadly to us. They make good servants, but horrible gods and masters.