Sometimes our sense of defeat is so great that we feel like God has abandoned us. We alternate between anger and despair. Is there a solution?

All Christians go through this at some point in their Christian life. We have a great challenge to face, a very tough battle to fight, and we are not succeeding. The situation even seems to be getting worse despite our prayers. We then become very angry with God. Why doesn’t He act? Or we become miserable. God surely doesn’t love us anymore. What could we have done wrong to harvest this silence? Or sometimes it’s the two feelings we feel at the same time!

If you are in this state right now, you are not alone. Not only do other brothers and sisters go through the same storm (1 Peter 5:9), but several characters in the Bible have also been there. David expressed it well in several psalms. “How long must I be confused and miserable all day? How long will my enemies keep beating me down? Please listen, Lord God, and answer my prayers. Make my eyes sparkle again, or else I will fall into the sleep of death” (Psalms 13:2-3 CEV). Even Jesus felt separated from His Father on the cross. “Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Mark 15:34 CEV) It is still comforting to see that even our Savior once felt this way when He was in His mantle of flesh.

But David did not end his psalm on this note. After pouring out his soul because it’s okay to feel those feelings and express them to God, he chose to keep his faith and rest in God. “You have been good to me, Lord, and I will sing about you” (Psalms 13:6 CEV). It is somewhat the same conclusion that Jesus had on the cross. “Jesus shouted, “Father, I put myself in your hands!” Then he died” (Luke 23:46 CEV) When we are angry when God doesn’t seem to act, and we feel like we have been abandoned by our Father. The best thing to do is to leave this domain in His hands. Faced with the fury of his enemies, David simply placed the outcome of the battle in God’s hands. Regardless of the outcome, whether it is in our favor or not, our Heavenly Father remains good, and His love does not change. Despite the pain in His body and soul, Jesus simply surrendered His spirit into the hands of His Father.

What if we do the same? We feel helpless before this financial giant. Let’s empty our hearts to God and then put the outcome of this situation in His hands. We have just received another discouraging medical diagnosis. Let’s empty our hearts to God, and then put our health in His hands. We feel abandoned by God in our singleness. Let’s empty our hearts to God, and then put our future in His hands. “No matter what happens now, I rest in the fact that you are good, Lord, and because you love me, you will take care of me, and you will be glorified either way.” It is not giving up our desire to be financially free, to be healthy, or to be married. It is to take a break from our battle to place the outcome of the battle in God’s hands. When we feel abandoned by God, it may be a sign that we need to abandon our situation to God. Because no, God has not abandoned us. He may not be acting the way we want it to or at the pace we want it to. That is probably how the sisters of Lazarus felt, hoping for healing long before their brother died (John 11:21 and 32). But who knows, as we keep faith, maybe God has a resurrection on the menu for us too!