What Do You Do When You Feel Abandoned By God? | Hard Questions

Duration: 5:48 1159 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

When addressing the painful experience of feeling abandoned by God despite remaining faithful, the discussion emphasizes that such feelings are a known reality for many believers rather than a sign of divine neglect. One speaker shares his personal struggle from 2022, describing a period marked by severe anxiety, depression, and mental fog where he desperately asked, "Lord, where are you?" Yet, even in those dark moments, he maintained the conviction that God had not left him because He honors His promises to never forsake His people. The core advice offered is to allow the Word of God to burn in one's heart, specifically focusing on assurances like Jesus' promise to be always with us, which serves as an anchor when emotions scream otherwise. The conversation highlights a common trap where individuals, feeling unappreciated or confused by their circumstances, begin to rely on their own sense of righteousness and list the things they have done for God. This mindset can lead to self-righteousness and doubt, similar to the thoughts Joseph might have had while in prison. To counter this, the speakers urge viewers to remember that salvation is a gift, not an earned reward, and that God remains in control regardless of current suffering. They encourage adopting an eternal perspective, reminding believers that God who began a good work will surely complete it, and that one should not view a difficult season as the final chapter but rather as a page to be turned in a larger story. Scripture plays a central role in navigating these feelings, with Psalm 13 frequently cited as a powerful tool for expressing honest complaints before turning back to trust. The psalmist first voices the anguish of feeling forgotten and hiding from God's face, only to pivot in the latter verses to declare trust in God's mercy and rejoice in His salvation. This structure models how believers can honestly bring their doubts and questions to God while simultaneously holding onto the truth of His character. Another reference is made to Psalm 18:30, which describes God's ways as blameless, reinforcing the idea that He is not causing suffering for its own sake but is working all things for the believer's ultimate good. Ultimately, the conclusion reached is that while it is natural to feel abandoned and even to yell at God during a "dark night of the soul," His faithfulness remains unchanged. The speakers affirm that God can handle our honest questions and frustrations because He is true and His ways are perfect. By staying connected with other believers for encouragement and keeping an eye on the future glory rather than present pain, individuals can endure these trials. The final message is one of hope, assuring that current sufferings are insignificant compared to the glory that will be revealed, and that God is still at work bringing people through their situations to a better understanding of His love.

Read the full video transcript

Our next question and Peter, I'm going to go to you first. What do you say to someone who's been faithful but still feels abandoned by God? >> Um, I I would as a pastor and then as another believer, I know that feeling. You guys all know what happened to me in '22. I went through a time. Jay, you talked with me on the phone. You talked with me on the phone, many others. I went through a time, Tom, that it was a brain fog. It was horrible. It was discouraging. Anxiety, depression. Uh, but even in the midst of all of that, I knew God did not abandon me. And I knew that was something that that that I had to work through in the word and it all the feeling was gone. It It was It was my Gethsemane. It was like, "Lord, where are you?" But yet, I I knew enough of the word that God honors his word. I knew enough that he would never leave us nor forsake us. And it was just something that I had to press through and I thank God for many in the body of Christ who called almost daily uh, and encouraged. So, if someone's going through this, um, uh, I would just encourage you uh, just get let the word burn in your heart. He said, "I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'm with you always." >> Amen. Amen. Thank you for opening up cuz that's that's going to minister to someone right now who's who's going through that kind of thing. >> Yeah. When whenever I get a question like this, I always go to Psalm 13. And And Psalm 13 says, "How long will you forget me, O Lord, forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? And then the psalmist goes on and and again, what do you tell somebody? Well, the psalmist said, "But Lord, I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me." And you know, to me, you know, as they feel abandoned, that first part talks about the abandonment, and then the the last two verses talked about, "This is what I'm going to do." >> Yeah. Yeah. So, we we we we have to understand what the the the Bible is saying about God, whether he will abandon us or not. >> Yeah, you know, it's funny. I was just thinking, uh you know, if I would have answered this question in my late teens, early 20s, when I started ministry at the Bible way, you know, you just believe God, you trust God, he's always with you. But when you go through some stuff, >> Yeah. >> and you feel abandoned, even though you know that to be true, you say it with a different tone. Uh because anybody that walks with God a period of time is going to face something where they're going to look back and say, "You know, Lord, I don't know why I'm serving you right now." You know what I mean? Like, "I'm doing this, that, and the third." Now, I'm not saying that we link on to that, but those things will play in your mind. You start going with your own righteousness. "I've been doing this for you. I've been doing that for you." Not understanding, we don't earn none of that. We don't have a right to any of those things, but in the time, it's been able to feel what that person feels. If you've ever been abandoned, if you've ever gone through a time where you didn't feel like God was there, you're doing all the things, you end up like Joseph, did all the right things, left the woman. I could sure I'm sure Joseph was in prison thinking, "Man, I should have laid with her." >> [laughter] >> You know what I mean? Since I end up here, I at least should have been, you know, that's the thought you start having. The humanity comes out. But you have to go back like Dr. Glasser, I love that. You know, he talks about all of those things, but God. You have to have a but God at the end of it. And so, whoever's watching that, know that God is still in control. He that begun the work will perform it. And don't take this one season of your life in this one place in your life and say that's it. Stay tuned, turn the page. God isn't done with you yet. He's going to bring you through the situation. And when you get through it all, you'll know it better by and by. And these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in >> Amen. If I can jump in there, I thank God for that year. I think then I I was like, "Where are you?" But I look back now and I God showed me so many things through that. I thank God for that hardship. >> All right. All right. >> I don't think I can add anything to what these guys have said. >> Yeah, I I mean, we go through it and it's hard and and you got to keep that eternal perspective. You know God's going to win in the end. I love the song that you read, Psalm 13. I'm going to I'm going to use that. >> I wrote that down, too. >> you know, in the psalmist does voice that complaint and you get that a lot, right? That you you voice that, "Lord, where are you? How long?" You know? Uh and yet, you know, we've got to remind ourselves of the promises of God are yay and amen and then that we don't have the the big picture and we know he's going to work this for our good. And we just got to hold on to that. >> I think we've all at some time gone through some dark night of the soul, okay? We've gone through a time where we felt abandoned. I've yelled at God and wondered where where are you at times or why are you doing this? You know, God can handle that, okay? But but he's always faithful and he's always true. I I love Psalm 18:30. As for God, his way is blameless, you know? And so he is there. His way is blameless. He is not trying to make you suffer for that sake, but life is like that sometimes. So Pete, thank you for opening up. Appreciate it, brother. And thank you for the question. So >> [music]