god-forsaken places

When you and I run across a desolate place, a place without life - literally or spiritually - we might sometimes refer to that place as "God-forsaken."  What we mean by this is that we are in a miserable place and it appears to us that God is nowhere to be found.

Several years ago I was at a workshop entitled, "God in God-forsaken Places."  I don't remember a whole lot about the workshop, but I do remember one particular part of the presentation.  The speaker walked us through Scripture, skipping here and there, from Genesis to Revelation, lifting out quick vignettes of the stories we were all familiar with - from Adam and Eve to the Apostles - showing us God at work in the most unlikely of places and people.   Such a list of people had to include the story of Abraham and Sarah.  Within that story, of course, is enmeshed the story of Hagar and Ishmael.  From worldly standards, these people and their stories are a blip on the radar.  They become much more in the end, of course, but that's not where they started.  From an outsider's point of view, one might wonder if and where God could be found in their stories, at all.



Within the whole Abraham-Isaac-Ishmael context, Hagar would appear to be one of the most "God-forsaken" people around.  The desert in which she finds herself twice in the story would appear to be one of the most "God-forsaken" places around, as well.  And yet, as we saw on Sunday, God forsakes no one in this story and no place is beyond his reach.


Each day, each of us have what appear to be "God-forsaken" moments in our lives - miserable places and desperate people to which we are called .  It may be the office, the neighborhood or the home, but there are days when we wonder if and where God is at work in these relationships.  Be assured, however, that God is indeed at work in those places and people.  No one and no place is truly God-forsaken.  Such a phrase should not even exist in our theological vocabulary!  We are told both in the Old and New Testaments (Dt  31.6; He 13.5) that God says to us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  That's a promise to the people of God, of course, but it is also a testimony to the character and ways of God.  This is the kind of God, God is.

To what "God-forsaken" places has God called you?  To which "God-forsaken" people has he led you?  Be at peace!  God is with you and for you and wants to reveal himself to others through you as the God who sees and hears those in need!