Abandoned Archives - Pastor Terry Lema's Daily Devotions

Social media is full of videos about pets, mainly dogs and cats. Some are really funny. Some show pets misbehaving and with captions that are amusing. One picture I see every year is of a dog, with a Christmas tree crashed on the floor behind him. The caption reads, “Glad you are home, the Christmas Tree fainted!”

Some of the videos are sad, often showing pets abandoned by their owners, some even mistreated. People move away and rather than surrender their pets to someone who can care for them, they just leave them in the homes or outside. By the time they are found, these animals are usually in desperate trouble.

Pets are not the only ones abandoned. Children are abandoned by their parents. Or parents by their children. Sometimes siblings leave and never contact their brothers or sisters again. Husbands abandon their wives and wives their husbands.

We can feel abandoned by our employers, our government, our school systems. Where once we stood among many, now we stand alone.

But God … BUT GOD … will never abandon us. Psalm 9:10: “Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh.” [HCSB]

The New King James says it this way, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

Psalm 9 is a celebration of God’s justice. And right in the middle of those 20 verses, the Psalmist reminds us that the LORD (YAHWEH) will never abandon or forsake those who place their trust in Him. Our God has not, will not leave, forsake, move away, abandon, or walk away from us.

Jesus confirmed that. “And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20 HCSB]

Thank you, LORD. Today we focus our praise for never abandoning us. Thank you that we never have to face life alone. Amen

At The Way we are about ready to finish our series on “Finding Faith and Courage in Difficult Times.” It is from Hebrews 11. When you read Hebrews 11 and see all the heroes of faith and their exploits, you might not notice that the end of the chapter is far different from the beginning.

There is no doubt about the great acts of faith shown in the beginning. Seas part. Walls tumble. The mouths of lions are shut. Kingdoms topple. Hebrew children survive a fiery furnace. These heroes of faith operated in the awareness and light of the Presence of God … or as one commentator remarked, they worked in the sunshine.

When you get to the end of the chapter, however, things change. “Some men were tortured…and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated….They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.” [vs35b-38 HCSB]

Those heroes had far different acts of faith. They lived their lives not in the sunshine and light of God’s presence, they lived in the shadows. But their testimony of faith spoke volumes and the writer of Hebrews noted that “The world was not worthy of them.” [vs38a HCSB]

Difficulties do happen to people of faith. Sometimes the greatest acts of faith are poured out in those dark times of life that seem impossible to endure, and yet we do. Sometimes the greatest acts of faith are shown when the world and life come crashing down around us, when we experience loss and grief and tragedy. It is then, in the shadows of life, when we cannot sense the Presence of our LORD, yet we hold strong to Him … it is then, that our greatest acts of faith prove worthy of Him.

So, if you are going through difficulties and troubles, hold strong beloved. God is there, walking with you through the shadows. He will never leave you nor abandon you. Your greatest testimony wrought in the shadows will be displayed to all one day in the light.

Abandoned

Abandoned!

Even in the Shadows …