Today on the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed that God has abandoned you, that God has forgotten all about you? We simply don't understand it. It doesn't make sense. Perhaps you wondered if there is a God in these crises of life.
Does God really exist, or if He does exist, does He know that I exist because I feel so alone, I feel so abandoned? Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Have you ever felt abandoned by God when your prayers go unanswered and your problems only seem to grow worse? Today, we're exploring the promises of God and the incredible truth that God is always with us. If you've ever felt alone, today's message is just for you.
And to introduce his message, here's Pastor John Monroe. Have you ever been in an experience where you felt that God has abandoned you?
So very dark, a very lonely place to be.
Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. This is by no means a unique experience for you, as we read in Scripture of those who have felt that God has left them. In this series, with wings like eagles, soaring high in life's challenges. We're thinking of very situations where it is easy to feel defeated, to be discouraged, and even depressed as we deal with difficult situations in life. But we're being encouraged.
We're being strengthened by looking at the Word of God. You are not alone. Whatever your circumstance, including feeling abandoned by God, here is hope. In a church where I had the privilege of leading a young nurse to saving faith in Jesus Christ, she told me as I got to know her and her husband, to ask that I would pray with them and for them for a family. They had been married for several years, had had some kind of difficulties in conceiving, and asked if I would pray, as indeed I did.
I remember receiving the exciting news that the baby was born, but it was quickly followed by another call. I remember it vividly. It was a Saturday afternoon. I received a call that there were some problems, and immediately I went to the hospital and then looked at this newborn little girl, perfect, beautiful little girl. But was told there were grave, grave problems.
She was critically ill, as indeed she was. And three weeks later, only three weeks later after the birth, I was standing with the parents as they lowered the little casket into an open grave. These were young believers in Jesus Christ, and the parents asked me a question. Which was a good question, a very understandable question. Is John, where is God?
Time passed, and the couple, on being told it was very unlikely that they would ever have a child of their own, decided to adopt a child. And so we prayed with them through that. And one day, they called to tell me the exciting news that a little baby boy had been placed with them, and we give thanks to God. But only a few days later, I was called to their home and told that the natural mother had changed her mind, and the mother, and very strongly the baby's grandparents wanted the baby. And so, after some phone calls and checking into the system, this little baby boy, again another little boy, had to be handed back.
Tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy, and remember standing in their home. And again, they asked John, "Where is God in all this? Has God forgotten us? Has God abandoned us? After all, we have surrendered our life to Jesus Christ, and since then, look at all of this that has happened.
Have you ever been there?" Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed that God has abandoned you, that God has forgotten all about you? Perhaps you've wondered if there is a God in these crises of life. Does God really exist, or if He does exist, does He know that I exist because I feel so alone, I feel so abandoned, and? Even when I pray, as I do, it seems that God isn't even listening to me. What's the point of praying?
Because I pray and nothing happens. John Wheeler was a theoretical physicist at Princeton University, died in two thousand and eight, and he said something very interesting. I guess that only a theoretical physicist could say. He said, "Time is nature's way of stopping things happening all at once." And I thought of that. But sometimes it seems in life that everything does happen at once, doesn't it?
One excruciating, difficult situation follows another, and we're absolutely swamped. We're overwhelmed. Do we? Yes, we believe in God. We would say, but it seems that God has disappeared from my life.
It's a frightening, painful, totally draining situation when you feel abandoned by God. Perhaps you've never been there and you can't understand it, but I suspect that many of you here have been there. Certainly, down through the centuries, the people of God have felt that way. Listen to Psalm 10, verse 1: "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Yes, that's in the Bible, Psalm 10, verse 1.
Psalm 89, verse 46: "How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself forever?" God is hidden. It seems God has forsaken us. It seems God doesn't care about us. It seems as if we've been abandoned by God. Listen to Isaiah 40.
We're going to look in a minute to this wonderful chapter. But listen to one verse, Isaiah 40, verse 27. Why do you say, "O Jacob," and speak, "O Israel," my way is hidden from the Lord? And my right hand is disregarded by my God. Here is Israel saying to God, "Where are you?
You're disregarding us. Our way is hidden from you." What's the background of Isaiah 40:27?
Well, Isaiah is making a prophecy. In fact, between 605 and 586 BC. The superpower Babylon comes into Judah, into Jerusalem, devastates the temple, destroys the temple, destroys Jerusalem, and takes many captives back to Babylon. We call it the Babylonian captivity, including such men as Daniel and Ezekiel. The king at the time, the king of Judah, is Zedekiah, and the Babylonians are so ruthless that they take his sons.
And they kill his sons. They murder his sons right in front of his eyes, and then they gouge out his eyes.
So the very last thing he sees is the murder of his own sons, and they take him in exile into Babylon. Yes, the people of God in Babylonian captivity, and Isaiah. Although when he's writing, this hasn't happened. He's prophesying that this is going to happen, and these events indeed did happen historically, as we know. And so, in these circumstances.
It's a good question, isn't it? It's a very real question. Has God abandoned us? The situation seems absolutely hopeless.
Now, Isaiah had previously described and, in fact, predicted the Assyrians, and they conquered Israel. You remember, and now he is warning the people of God that this captivity is coming. That God is going to take the people of Judah into exile, with resulting devastation, with resulting feelings of abandonment, and so as Isaiah is writing, he's writing, as it were, to people who are presently in exile in Babylon, even though the events had not yet happened. Such is prophecy. He's one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, and it seems that God has forgotten his people.
It seems as if God has abandoned His people. It seems as if God is going back on His promises, and so in these tragic circumstances, we can understand the people saying, "My way is hidden." From the Lord, things like this are not meant to happen to the people of God. That's what this young couple told me. He went through that devastating circumstances. Things like that are not meant to happen to us, the people of God.
But they do. God should be revealing Himself and His splendor, His glory, His power. God should be answering our prayers, not ignoring us, not abandoning us. I want to speak this morning on abandoned. By God, this reference here in Isaiah forty is not the first time as I read from the Psalms that Israel has felt abandoned by God.
Psalm forty-four, in the opening verses of Psalm forty-four, wonderful beginning to the psalm. Israel is saying, "In the past, O Lord, we trusted in you, and you gave us victory in battle." We heard that from our fathers. We heard that from our grandfathers. We heard that they went to battle, and you gave them the victory. Psalm forty-four, verse six: For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
But you, God, has saved me from my foes, and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. You get the point. That's good. Listen.
When our forefathers went into battle, they didn't depend on their military power, their archers, or their horses or their armor. They trusted in you, and you delivered. You gave them the victory. But then Psalm 44 takes a dramatic turn. Verse nine: But you have rejected, and disgraced us.
And have not gone out with our armies. You've made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You've made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations. In our life, those of us who've been following the Lord Jesus for some time, we can look back when God answered our prayers. When God helped us, when we cried out in desperation to the Lord, and the Lord, in effect, delivered.
Ah, but now this situation has come. That's what Israel is saying.
Now this has happened. You delivered us in the past, but now our enemies are decimating us. We're disgraced. We're a laughing stock. Psalm 44, defeated in battle.
We're being ridiculed by the pagan nations, and we don't understand it. We're crying out to you for help. We're putting our trust in you, but you're not answering our prayers, God. We simply don't understand it. It doesn't make sense when God abandons His people.
What I'm saying is, the experience that you're facing right now, some of you, is feelings. That have been experienced by the people of God. The Psalms were written a thousand years before Christ. That's three thousand years ago. People said that.
The nurse and her husband said that to me, and some of you, I think many of you, could stand and say, John, we can relate. I've been right there. Edward Tabash, although having Jewish forefathers, is a passionate atheist. Two members of his family were killed in the Holocaust. He said, "If the God of the Bible actually exists, I want to sue him for negligence for being asleep at the wheel of the universe when my grandfather and uncle were gassed at Auschwitz, abandoned by God." This is the common view that if there is a God, when these tragedies happen, these devastating circumstances, He's He's absent.
He's asleep. He's abandoned us.
Now, what are we, the people of God, to do in these devastating circumstances?
Well, open your Bibles to Isaiah forty, if it's not already opened, because we're going to read a brilliant answer. Isaiah brilliantly, not just in chapter forty, but in the remainder from forty three sixty six, gives magnificent, profound answers to this question—a real question, a deep question—one which the spiritual cliche doesn't help. But what does he say in the challenges and struggles of life? What do we do? Here's Isaiah's answer.
Here's my answer. Here's God's answer. Behold, your God. Look at Isaiah 40 verse 9. First of all, go up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news.
Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lifted up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God. In these struggles and trials of life, don't look to yourself. Don't dwell too much on the circumstances; they will depress you and discourage you.
They'll overwhelm you. But behold, your God. Isaiah tells us in verse thirty that we are often faint and weary. The Christian life can be tough going. There are times when we're weary.
There are times when we're tired. There is times when we wonder if we can keep going in following Jesus Christ. It's so difficult, and these circumstances come into our life. That is true. We are faint.
We are sometimes weary. We are sometimes discouraged. But behold, your God, recognize Isaiah is telling us that you are powerless to handle the difficult situations in life. You think you're pretty good. You think you've got everything under control.
God has His ways, doesn't He, to show us you're not in control. You're not in charge. I want you to behold your God. The problems are too complex for you. Look back at verse six.
A voice cries. A voice says, "Cry," and I said, "What shall I cry? All flesh." Is grass, and all its beauty, like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass.
What's Isaiah doing? He's reminding us of the frailty and the brevity of life. Grass looks wonderful today. Tomorrow it's gone. You're healthy.
You're on the crest of the wave. Your business is going so well, and your family are just a tremendous family, and you keep telling everyone how wonderful they are. But in a microsecond, all of that can come tumbling down, can't it? You think you're the healthiest person here? You might be.
In one minute, that could change. All flesh—it's like grass. It's like the beauty of the flower. Here is a flower today. It is breathtakingly beautiful.
Tomorrow, what happens? It's withered, and the petals start falling off.
Soon, it withers and dies. That's the point. Here is a picture of the night blooming cereus. Do you realize that that flower only blooms one night a year? It's not the kind of flower you want in your house, is it?
Because for three hundred and sixty-four days of the year, it looks like a leathery weed. But for one night, it even comes out in the night—not even the day—and it comes out and is beautiful. This species opens to this beautiful, silky, white flower, encircled with these yellow lace-like threads. With another flower. In the flower, like a tiny sea, an enemy.
Absolutely gorgeous, beautiful creation, but it's only there for one night and it's gone. You see, the grass and the flowers mentioned by Isaiah are metaphors of the fragility of your existence and the brevity of your existence.
So what can we do in these devastating circumstances of life, which very, very often are out of our control? Negative. Don't look to yourself for a solution. We live in a self-help age. The bookstores are full of solutions and techniques for all kinds of situations, but not one of them has the answer for this.
And the severity of our problem should produce in us humility and repentance. Isaiah says here, verse nine: "Behold, your God! Here is, and we think of this two weeks ago. Here is an unchanging and unchangeable foundation. God, we saw a couple of weeks ago, is described by Isaiah as the rock, the permanent rock." So, look away from yourself.
Look away from your own ideas and the opinions of our secular culture. They are fleeting. They will only imprison you in your own thoughts and feelings. What Isaiah going to say? The heavens and the earth can pass away, but God's word will not pass away.
Here is the very anchor for our souls: the eternal truths of the word of God. Look at verse eight. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Unlike human solutions, philosophies, and psychologies and opinions, God's word is true. It's steadfast, and it will last forever.
How does Isaiah begin his wonderful prophecy back in chapter one?
Well, verse one tells you that God gives Isaiah this vision, and he's going to receive it during the life of four of the kings. The last one being Uzziah. Isaiah probably is a prophet for about fifty, sixty years. He prophesies during the reign of four kings, at least four kings. But then in verse two, he says, "This, hear, O heavens!" And Gavirio, for the Lord has spoken.
That's what I'm asking you to do today. I'm asking you to behold your God. I'm asking you to listen to God, to look at God, and to listen to Him in the struggles and challenges of life. Here are words of comfort, words of encouragement, words of truth, words of grace. Isaiah is saying to the people, "You're going to be in Babylonian captivity." But notice how he begins chapter 40 to people who have sinned and turned from him.
Comfort, comfort, my people," says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her. Sins. Look at verse eleven. He will tend his flock like a shepherd.
He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are young. What a great God! In the worst of circumstances, here is comfort. Here is hope.
Here is the answer. Listen to the word of God. Turn to the word of God, this unchangeable rock. Listen to God, and behold, your God. Behold, your incomparable God.
You say, "Well, what's special about God?" Isaiah is going to tell you. Remember, previously we saw a couple of weeks ago. He says, "Don't trust in these idols. Why would you trust in your idols? What's your idol?
I don't know." Your sports team, your financial balance, your family, your home, your pleasures—all of that. Let me tell you, will not help you in this day of trouble. These are idols. Look at the incomparable God, verse twelve, who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand. Think of all of the oceans of the world—the Great Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean.
Think of them all. As I say, they're just like in the hollow of God's hand. That's how big God is. And marked off the heavens with a span—the heavens, the universe, the cosmos, space. Scientists don't know how big it is, but to God, it's like measuring it off with a span.
What was the span? Nine inches was between your thumb and your largest finger. For me, I measured it yesterday. Mine is nine inches. All of that, tiny, compared with God.
You are listening to the Verdict with the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. John will be right back with more on today's message.
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Well, what's your verdict? Have you been there? Have you felt that God has forgotten you or deserted you? Don't you love the reality of the Holy Scriptures? Nothing is sugar coated.
Here is the reality of life. God is not asleep. God has not abandoned you. God loves you. God cares for you, and the cross of Christ demonstrates His love for you.
So today, be encouraged, and trust God with all of your heart. Don't forget to tune into the program next time, as we continue with this all-important subject of being abandoned by God. Thanks for joining us today on the Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
