April 11: Matthew 27:45-46

Key Verse: Matthew 27:45
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.

Devotion:
I hear many people asking the questions: “where is God?”, “why is He doing nothing?”, “how can He just sit and watch?”… I do struggle to find the right answers to tell people because each of us think of things in different ways – but the question needs to be answered, not by us but by God through the Holy Spirit. Don’t try to figure things out in your own mind because we cannot! Our minds are not strong enough to figure out things like this and certainly not strong enough to carry the burden which come along with this all!

When Jesus was on the cross and was about to die, a darkness spread all over the land. This was not God closing His eyes so He would not have to watch His Son die on the cross – God the Father never left His side during all of this! I believe it was so the world would not have to watch this moment – a moment we could not comprehend or come to terms with. Jesus’ reaction was to call out and ask God why He had forsaken Him. This was the human side of Jesus calling out to God because He physically felt so left out of everything at that point.

We do feel like we are left alone to struggle by ourselves. We do feel like we are going mad indoors by ourselves. We do feel like God has forsaken us too at times! But one thing I learned when I was in hospital last year was that God never leaves your side. Even when friends and family are not there by your side, even when you do feel so very isolated, God is there with you. Maybe He does not want the world to see each other at their lowest points. Maybe He wants us to think seriously about why Jesus went to the cross!

It really is beyond our comprehension how this can all be happening – but remember this. No matter how bad things get according to you, God is always going to be with you every step of the way and in every moment of our isolation! The lights may go out, the cities may grow eerily quiet, but God is right there by your side and wrapping His arms around you – we just cannot see it because of our grief we are going through!

Points to Ponder:
How are you doing. No, really, how are you doing?

Please remember God is with you every moment of every day!